A Wheel in Constant Motion
by dustbowls
Summary: In a Konoha weakened by the Uchiha clan's attempted coup four years ago, Hana and a disgraced Itachi must work together in the ANBU to protect the village from its numerous enemies. Second scenario of the "He was Captain" series.
1. Chapter 1

**Note: **Attempt #2 to rewrite Naruto canon, after reading various theories and catching up and whatnot. This is the alternate universe without the Uchiha massacre. That is not to say that life is beautiful.

_(Edit 10/25/13) _This project/fic was begun around June 2011 and has since then undergone a lot of plot changes. There will probably be at least 8 "shots" or chapters. Hopefully that number will limit digressions and whatnot.

**All of the characters _in ANBU_ are from canon. I just gave them different lives. :) **

**_Shot 1._**The Hokage makes a decision that sets everything in motion.

* * *

><p>It was sort of pathetic to see a jounin-level ninja weeding a garden. Obviously a D-rank mission, and just as obviously below his abilities.<p>

Of course, if you didn't know who he was, it would look almost normal. He was sixteen or seventeen years old, same as the average chuunin, who sometimes got assigned humiliatingly low-rank missions as a disciplinary measure. More chuunin did D-rank missions than they cared to admit, if they needed several hundred ryo on short notice. Chump change, but hey, ryo was ryo, and when you needed it, catching three ridiculously well-loved pets could equal the pay for some the lousier B-ranked missions.

Despite all this, few who saw him would fail to recognize the Uchiha hair and eyes. Those distinctive features were infamous throughout Konoha, and even civilians had learned to sneer on sight. It was pretty easy to ID who was weeding that garden, too; there weren't that many Uchiha walking around after the failed coup. And then there was that reddish tattoo on his bare arm, the unraveling spiral that marked him for past service in the ANBU. He wasn't a recognized jounin anymore, let alone ANBU, but that was the thing about tattoos. They were kind of permanent.

Maybe he could have hidden that, disguised his identity with a genjutsu, but he had no chakra to call upon. His mandatory morning session with the Hyuuga and Aburame ANBU had seen to that.

Still, however humiliating it was meant to be, at least he was alone. It was even peaceful, what with the afternoon sun and the quiet, ever-present chirping of birds. A gentle wind rustled through the leaves, stirring up a family of insects living inside a knot in the tree trunk. Mottled brown-and-grey wings flapped, flared as Mother Bird killed her speed to alight on a branch near the little insect family. Then she winged back into the leafy shadows to feed her hungry children.

Sounds of laughter spilled over from the dirt road between the civilian homes. Children of another kind, jostling each other on a path wide enough for four of them to walk abreast of each other. The brown-haired, stubby-nosed, and freckled boy at the front of the group was clearly the leader of the pack. His eyes were alert with the bright, sharp-edged quality that all genin had. The six forehead protectors glinted proudly, shiny and unmarred. All of them had just graduated from the Ninja Academy that morning. They had no real business in a civilian neighborhood.

The boy caught sight of the Uchiha in the garden. "Hey!" he shouted. "He's over there! Look at him weeding. Hey, Uchiha! You stink!"

His companions picked up the tune. "My brother's _thirteen_ and he's gone on C-rank missions," said the girl, loudly. "He says D-rank missions are for babies."

"Ha-ha! Uchiha are _LO-sers!_"

"His brother's never going to graduate. He's being held back to train with the eight-year-olds all over again. He-ey, talk to us, Uchiha!"

"Yeah, what's got your tongue?"

"_LO-ser!"_

The newly-minted genin weren't stupid enough to toss shuriken around, but a couple of pebbles arced through the air, thrown with accuracy honed from years of practice on the academy training grounds. Weirdly enough, they thumped onto the springy turf without actually hitting anyone. The other brown-haired boy who had thrown the first pebbles frowned and bent over to find another missile. There was no fun in harassing the Uchiha if the victim didn't even deign to respond. He should be scowling at least, or flailing to avoid getting hit.

Worst of all? It was like the Uchiha_, _by holding his silence, was snubbing _them._

"I'm bored," the leader declared. "Let's go check out the new yakiniku restaurant."

"Race you!"

Like a flock of gulls that had caught sight of more promising fodder, the six of them wheeled back in the direction of the main village.

Itachi yanked the last weed out of the ground.

"How many more have you got today?"

Itachi didn't glance over at the man who had appeared. There was nothing to read off that dispassionate rat's mask. A mask quite similar to one that Itachi used to own. "One more mission," he said quietly. "Lost pet retrieval. Then I will be going back to the Academy."

As if the ANBU didn't already know he and his two unseen squad-members would proceed to escort both brothers to their family residence.

"Even though tonight is the first official night of summer, don't forget the two of you are staying home."

Itachi nodded to show that he had heard. This was no different from the last four years. Just him, Sasuke, and one or two elderly relatives on the verge of senility in the entire compound. The rest, locked away in cells deep in the sunless bowels connected to the interrogation and experimental departments. His parents and the former clan leaders were four years dead.

"Carry on, then. We wouldn't want you to lose that 5,000 ryo bonus for delivering it before sunset." The ANBU disappeared in a puff of smoke.

* * *

><p>"I'm telling you, it's a total waste."<p>

"What do you want to do about it?"

"Four years of exemplary behavior. Surely that's something…"

"We need the older one around. The younger brother, Sasuke… he's never been tractable. At least, not to us. He grew up completely indoctrinated."

"So did Itachi."

"And look how he turned out! I'm not saying he didn't do us a good turn by betraying his family, but you know what they say about traitors…"

"We have all the keys, don't we? All Itachi wants is his brother's wellbeing. He'll settle for his brother's continued existence, and he'll be grateful we haven't plucked _his _eyes out. We'll give him that. But how long do you think Sasuke will put up with being held back for no reason other than the fact that he might be a threat?"

"Not long. That's why we should just let him graduate and start using what Konoha _has: _two talented shinobi."

"That's why we shouldn't let Itachi loose! He needs to stay and keep an eye on his brother, which we need to keep here as a control on whatever mad impulses he may suffer from later…"

The Sandaime sighed heavily. They had been at it for hours. It had come up every year for the last three years. Uchiha Sasuke's teachers thought he was either overdue to receive his forehead protector or a sociopathic avenger in the making. The former group of teachers tended to commend him to the elders and plead his case. The latter group roused all the opposition – among them the heads of the Hyuuga clan – and brought about a deadlock. And since the opposition included Danzou, Koharu, and Homura, the discussion had never moved past the council room. Sarutobi's former teammates knew exactly how to appeal to the fears of the other village elders and had been advocating a more conservative, authoritarian policy for years.

Three and a half hours, and over ten hours in total, spread out over three years. Surely any serious qualms had been debated to death by now and they were running on pure inertia.

Three… two… one.

He stood up, causing the elders to lapse into silence.

"That's it." The Sandaime felt a grim satisfaction at the shocked, frozen visages turned in his direction. "It's been decided. We've already chosen the ANBU squads."

"But – Hokage-sama, you can't be serious!"

He glanced at the protester, who read the answer in his face. The man changed tack.

"How can we explain this to the villagers? Some of them complain that they still have trouble sleeping, knowing that those two, out of their entire family, have free rein in Konoha. And now you want to give the former heir some of his chakra back and send him outside on _missions?_ He's a traitor!"

"Not to Konoha," said Sarutobi. "And he'll be monitored. Every step of the way."

That was all the village council needed to know. If he said anything more than that, their skulls just might implode.

* * *

><p>"Nee-san, can I have your takoyaki?"<p>

Hana deposited the skewer onto her brother's plate and watched him devour it with gusto. Partway through, she regretted watching. "Hey, Kiba, you know that food is supposed to go _into _your mouth, right?"

"Don't jaw at me today," mumbled her brother without much real resentment. "I just graduated!"

Hana rolled her eyes but honored his point by not laughing at his ridiculous appearance. The lower half of Kiba's face was flecked with sauce and bonito flakes. "Fine. But enjoy it while you can."

"I _am._" Kiba raised his head, takoyaki entirely demolished. "Tonight is going to be _awful._" Their mother, Tsume, was unlikely to hold her tongue or refrain from whacking her son on the shoulder for bad table manners, new forehead protector or no. Lots of food, lots of relatives, the entire clan gathered together to celebrate every new academy graduate. It was tradition. Kiba glanced down at the small white dog in his lap, who was crunching contentedly on a bit of gristle. "Akamaru, are you full yet?" He got a small yip in answer.

Hana started to pour the last of the sake into her own cup, then smirked. "You're a ninja now, Kiba. Practically a man… but can you hold your liquor?" Her brother's young face lit up.

Their glasses clinked together. "To kicking ass!"

"To much future ass-kicking," agreed Hana. She downed hers quickly and watched Kiba's expression change – his euphoric grin, a wince as the taste washed over his tongue, and then a proud beam after he swallowed, though he tried to mask the latter with manly nonchalance. "Congratulations."

"Thanks." Kiba scratched the back of his neck. A rare, thoughtful frown crossed his face. "I mean, it's really not that special that I graduated, right? Everyone graduates."

"Just because we expected it of you doesn't mean it's not an accomplishment."

"You're right…" His frown lingered. "You know that Uchiha kid that I told you was pretty good even though he was a dick? I didn't see him get his forehead protector today. I mean, I thought he graduated, but I wasn't sure. There's no way he didn't graduate."

"No, you're right," Hana said. "He didn't graduate." Most of the time, Kiba could be easily distracted, but wearing that new forehead protector and that uncharacteristically contemplative expression, he looked old enough to be told some things at last – things she had previously helped him dismiss rather than examine. Every genin in his graduating class would eventually have to confront blurred memories of the coup that had interrupted their childhood. And like many others, Kiba would also eventually connect it to a parent's absence.

"Why not? If Naruto did – and he's incredibly dumb, practically dead last – then there's no way Sasuke wouldn't have."

"There are other reasons for that." Rumors had circulated among the jounin as well; it seemed that at least one had been proven wrong. Against the odds, Naruto's graduation had made one Shiranui Genma 20,000 ryo richer. The other one, about Uchiha Sasuke's non-graduation day, only a legendary sucker would bet against.

Kiba's face fell slightly as she stood up. "You're leaving already?"

"ANBU business." Such as a classified mission to a post right on the border of Fire and Rain Country, described in terms even more oblique than usual. In twenty minutes, she was to meet the rest of the squad – who, following standard ANBU protocol, had not actually been named in the scroll she'd received that morning. Oddly enough, they had been summoned to the Hokage's own office, not the ANBU compound where extended debriefing usually took place. Tension had been coiling in Hana's stomach because of that.

"All right. I guess you're not going to be at dinner?"

"No, I won't be around to do damage control. That's why I took you out here." Kiba's morose expression made Hana reach over to ruffle his messy brown hair. "Catch you later,little brother." Akamaru thumped his tail when she scratched him behind the ears. "Look out for him, Akamaru. He can be kind of stupid sometimes."

"Hey!" protested Kiba.

Hana ordered another plate of food for him and left money on the counter before walking away. Dusk had fallen, and the lanterns on the izakaya nearby cast a warm reddish glow on the street. It would have been a lovely time to stroll over the bridge with her dogs, but summoning them for a ten-minute walk seemed too self-indulgent.

If there was anything Hana missed from the pre-ANBU days, it was having her _ninken_ around. Thanks to the Summoning Contract, she could call on the three Haimaru brothers at any time, but it wasn't the same. She missed their constant, reassuring warmth, the knowledge that three extra minds – in command of finer senses – were on the alert. Inuzuka were never alone. They grew up with their dogs and started training with them as soon as they could walk. But wearing a mask was kind of pointless when your dogs visibly identified you and forecasted your fighting style.

If not for the Uchiha attempt to overthrow the government, Hana might even have opted for another job entirely. Hyuuga, Nara, and Yamanaka had always been mainstays of the ANBU forces, but since the civil unrest four years ago, ANBU had expanded, its composition diversifying. More people went into internal security, but foreign security had gotten a boost as well. It was commonly held that the Uchiha plot had been the single greatest rejuvenator of the Konoha ANBU since the Nine-Tails' attack twelve years ago.

After changing into uniform, mask and all, in the ANBU compound, Hana made her way to the Hokage office. An ANBU whose mask was a red-striped cat joined her on the way up. Uzuki Yuugao, judging by her scent and the way she walked.

While Hana was someone who might not have gone into ANBU but for the fallout from the Uchiha uprising, Yuugao was another story. That hadn't stopped the two of them from first becoming respectful acquaintances, then friends. If Yuugao was part of the mission, Hana couldn't help but feel encouraged.

They maintained a professional silence until they entered the office to see not two, but a whopping number of six other ANBU before the Hokage's desk, not counting the jounin bodyguards. Eight was double the size of a normal cell.

"You may remove your masks," said the Sandaime, his eyes shadowed by the brim of his hat. "I want you all to know exactly who the other members are."

This was weird. Beyond weird.

A tiny, collective shiver passed through the ranks as eight porcelain masks were untied. Hana chose not to glance down the row, opting to sniff the air discreetly.

Apart from herself and Yuugao, there were no other women. Hana had worked with roughly half of the remaining members before, including Yakushi Kabuto – she'd recognize the disconcerting metallic-and-medicinal smell anywhere – and Aburame Muta, who wore opaque glasses underneath his mask. The Hyuuga was either Tokuma or Kou. It had to be Tokuma, since Kou had light-colored hair. In fact, Hana could have easily identified all the ANBU currently in the room, at least by mask - except that her attention had snagged on the scent of the sixth person.

The reason why the Hokage had wanted them to know exactly whom they were working with sank in like a stone dropped in a lake.

He had been an ANBU captain years before Hana first applied to the ANBU – and he had resigned from it entirely by the time Hana had passed the exam. It could have been personal choice, but regardless of his preferences, the village council would not have let him go on. Stripped of jounin and chuunin status, forbidden to leave Konoha, coerced into having his chakra drained and sealed every day for the last four years… who _didn't _know what had happened to Uchiha Itachi?

So what was he doing now in full ANBU gear, as if he had never left?

Logically, Hana knew that someone must have issued him a new set, since his last one had fitted a thirteen-year-old boy, but here he was, enduring their scrutiny – she and almost everyone else was staring at him in open shock – and standing shoulder-to-shoulder with them as if he belonged.

But they were ANBU. That meant that they were too professional to explode with questions, too wary and proud to twitch with discomfort even if giant flesh-eating worms had suddenly started chewing on their innards, and… clearly the Hokage had been banking on that. Mouths closed and eyes reverted back to the Sandaime in the fraction of a second.

"As your mission scrolls have informed you, the border of Fire and Rain Country requires expertise beyond that of the average jounin and chuunin currently in charge of the outpost. Your job will not be to take over from them or interfere with their work. In fact, carry out your duty as usual." Meaning, _be silent, unnoticed, and practically nonexistent to the enemy, until the day the enemy needs to go. _"In recent weeks, we have received reports of sightings of individuals known to be missing nin, one of which is suspected to have defected from Konoha. I am sending you to address this concern. These are S-class criminals. Capture is a bonus, not a priority. If you find yourself in a position to examine the body, seal any jutsu or special abilities that you can before attempting transport."

He didn't review the other usual ANBU procedure: _If you find yourself in a position where Konoha's secrets may be compromised, self-destruct so that no trace of you survives._

"…Must report weekly through a recognizable summons…"

How long, exactly, was this mission?

"…Mission status will be reviewed at the end of one month, and we will deploy you as we see fit, based on the information at hand…"

As with most ANBU debriefings, the answer to one question spawned several thousand more. In ANBU, you _never_ spat out the questions in your head, you didn't let them fester in your gut for months after a mission, and you had to bite down on them before you even reached the question mark. Because oftentimes, completing that thought only brought you a whole lot of grief.

"One team will monitor the proceedings from a distance, remaining on call. I won't need to tell you why communication between the teams is crucial."

No doubt they had been chosen with an eye to that, but this time, Hana could bet that the second team wouldn't just be waiting in the wings as backup against foreign ninja. They'd be keeping watch on the other four Konoha nin, specifically Itachi.

The Sandaime was assigning them to teams, the more familiar part of the procedure. There would be a squad leader or captain for the mission to make the final call on tactics, and a lieutenant to serve as auxiliary in particularly trying circumstances. Which, in ANBU, amounted to _Mission compromised, send word back to village, intact bodies not required. P.S. - Make sure your teammates are absolutely dead._

"…Yakushi Kabuto, and Uzuki Yuugao. Your squad will play a supportive role, but you are also expected to keep an eye on the situation on the ground and assist our ninja deployed at the outpost where appropriate. Your captain and lieutenant are Koga and Tenzou respectively. Uchiha Itachi, Hyuuga Tokuma, Aburame Muta, and Inuzuka Hana: your squad will focus on the missing-nin. Your captain and lieutenant are Hana and Itachi respectively."

Hana was pretty sure she wasn't the only one who had barely suppressed a flinch.

Her mind went blank before a long string of words one _did not blurt in the Hokage's presence_ crowded out every other thought. She was aghast. Everyone was.

As if her relative youth and inexperience wouldn't put enough strain on the team dynamic, was the publicly reviled Uchiha supposed to hold the supporting position? Hana had worked with Muta and – on one occasion – Tokuma. They were everything you would expect from their clans – efficient, powerful, aloof, and immensely proud. She'd been seeing the more human side of Muta after they'd been thrown together for four missions, which was certainly something when you thought about the kind of mission generally assigned to ANBU squads. Ha-ha! Forget all that progress.

Like probably seven other people in the room, she had been expecting the second team to have a Hyuuga captain and Aburame lieutenant in a tried-and-true combination, with Itachi getting the short straw and stuck as the disgraced outsider. Well.

That clearly wasn't happening now.

Hana couldn't check on her teammates' reactions, but she stared hard at the Sandaime. She could imagine the Hyuuga's deadly wrath building like a storm about to break, and the colder, rustling clicks of a swarm of kikai bugs furious on their host's behalf. If she looked stolid, it was only because the revelation had arrived like a punch to the face, not because she didn't care about her impending death-by-Gentle-Fist-and-Scary-Bugs. Forget having a thousand new questions. She had just one. _How on earth _did the Hokage think this was going down?

He had moved on to tell them their date and time of departure, which was an hour to midnight, one week from now. It was more than enough time to pack for the mission, but a little short for getting used to the idea that you might not see your village for years. The Hokage and the council _would_ hold a monthly review on the viability of the mission, right?

_Stop it, _Hana warned herself. _You're acting like a child. Remember why you're doing this._ She hadn't taken the strenuous ANBU exam – one that filled the better part of the infirmary ward every other year – on a mere whim. After the fateful, bloody night of the Uchiha uprising, she'd resolved that there would never be a next time. It would never get this far again. Each and every mission she carried out in the ANBU led directly back to this goal – Konoha's security. If surveillance had been tighter, if there had been more ANBU, better preparation, swifter action, there would not have been as many victims caught in the crossfire.

Remembering that week and a half of sheer chaos and terror had helped Hana endure the ordeal that was the ANBU exam and see the way clear to why she had signed up in the first place. They'd inked the tattoo on her arm while she was still doing P.T. for her legs - so what was the scorn of two other ANBU and the prospect of working with a boy whose notoriety was four years outdated compared to all that?

Indefinite termination date. Weekly reports and unrelenting scrutiny for who knew how long_. _

Still better than the alternative – a Konoha ripped apart by war.

For whatever reason, the Hokage had appointed her captain of the squad. It was now her job to _be_ one.

Any questions?

Too bad.

* * *

><p>Sarutobi smoothed a hand over the hairless crown of his head, the wide-brimmed Hokage hat resting in his lap. An official letter to the Fire-Rain outpost, promising to address the "aforementioned concerns about a rat infestation," lay mostly finished atop a more mundane report of how the Nine-Tails' vessel was handling his long-awaited graduation, and how Uchiha Sasuke was not. At that moment, Sarutobi was arguably thinking of both of these subjects, and neither.<p>

He had decided that if he was giving Itachi a chance, he was going to go all the way and employ the Uchiha as his abilities deserved. That meant Itachi would take high risk missions in ANBU, where professional pride reined in any individual prejudice for the sake of the mission. The squads were formed on even more of an ad hoc basis and this did not foster a very personal environment. Itachi would have a shot at command, the units would not be nearly as cohesive – therefore, hopefully, not as watertight in their ostracism – and the natural competitiveness _between _the team members would provide some incentive for everyone on the team to reassess each other. Working together in that mutually wary environment gave them the chance to reevaluate preconceptions.

Itachi already had experience as an ANBU captain. Problem was, even the Hokage couldn't deal with the absolute uproar that would result if he restored Itachi to his full rank right away. Nor would it have been feasible to make Itachi lieutenant _and_ bow to traditional clan expectations at the same time. Despite the great professional pride of the ANBU, Aburame and Hyuuga clan pride would have prevented the other two men from giving Itachi any real authority as lieutenant – had they a choice.

So captaincy had to go to Inuzuka Hana, who – having grown up with the Haimaru brothers and being a member of one of Konoha's wildest clans– had some experience in forging three strong-willed individuals into a cohesive force. She had less to prove than the tightly-wound males on the squad and was more likely to consider Itachi's input fairly. Although Hana's particular challenge was that two out of three of her subordinates were older than her, every ninja in the ANBU had to acquire leadership experience sometime. Appointing an unranked but promising ANBU member as acting captain was not that rare given the merit-based nature of the ANBU. Mission-wise, the Inuzuka, Hyuuga, Aburame combination also had obvious strengths and it would have been a shame to force them apart.

It certainly promised to be an interesting challenge to everyone involved. What passed for "interesting" team dynamics in the ANBU did have slightly more intense connotations than in other divisions, but if it worked, with Itachi's versatility and expertise in genjutsu rounding out the group, they were sure to form one of the most devastating ANBU units in the history of black ops. And given the disturbing reports of S-class missing nin on the border, it couldn't have happened at a more fortuitous time.

In short, it was a calculated risk from which Konoha stood to gain plenty.

Sarutobi rolled up the letter and pressed the Hokage's official seal into the hot wax.


	2. Chapter 2

_Note:_ Reread the ever-helpful Naruto Wiki and noticed a few details about ANBU. Somehow I think the canon stipulation that only the Kage and village elders know who exactly is in ANBU is rather unrealistic and impossible. I personally consider the fact that someone is in ANBU is kept fairly hush-hush, but not entirely under the wraps. It's who wears what mask that is the big secret… which is why the big reveal in the Hokage's office was so disconcerting for them.

_**Shot 2. **_The leave-taking.

* * *

><p>When he walked into the indigo shadows of the house, the temperature changed sharply from pleasant warmth to uncomfortable stuffiness. Itachi was used to the silence. He stepped onto the engawa and turned his sandals around before padding over the wooden slats. A thin layer of dust kept the floor more slippery than it used to be<p>

(back when more people walked over it)

but he had left it as an additional indicator of unsolicited visitors, having learned that the ANBU who guarded him overlooked details like that. Sasuke had shown no inclination to do any housekeeping, and Itachi couldn't blame him. What was the point of trying to restore the house to its former state? It would only bring back memories and ghosts of people Itachi wasn't sure were entirely dead – though there were worse fates for occupants of interrogation cells.

Not that the ghosts didn't come to haunt, regardless. Sasuke insisted that the house was noisy. At night, he heard murmurs of people talking, sometimes arguments, sometimes quick footsteps down the hallways – that was why he used to flee past his own bedroom and spend the night on a futon in Itachi's room. He hadn't done that since turning ten, but that one and a half tatami space of Itachi's room stayed bare.

He slid back the door of his closet and surveyed its dark recesses. He still had to step onto the lower shelf to reach the back of the shelf above it, where he used to keep his equipment. There were a couple of scrolls, old and dusty with disuse. His hand brushed over small, dry pellets. Mice. They wouldn't have dared in the past.

Itachi stepped down and bit the thumb of his other hand, feeling chakra movethrough his coils for the first time in almost half a decade.

A small, dun-colored cat with tiger markings appeared in a puff of smoke. She licked her lips and looked disoriented for a moment, until she realized that she had an audience. At once, the confusion smoothed away from her face. Purring, she flowed forward to rub her head against Itachi's ankle.

"Haven't seen whisker or tail of you for a while, Itachi! Did you bring me anything?"

It really had been too long. "I'm sorry," he murmured. "Next time, Hina." Hina's purr turned into a low growl, but it was a growl of pleasure as his fingers scratched under her chin.

"I'll hold you to that. Granny is not very pleased with you boys. She was wondering how the clan has been doing."

Itachi's expression didn't change, but the casual remark tightened his throat briefly. "You haven't heard?"

Hina yawned and moved away, twining around his leg. "Didn't I say so? You can tell me while you go fix me something in the kitchen, eh?"

* * *

><p>He knew the moment Sasuke returned. Not by the customary sounds, though Itachi had reason to be thankful, in an odd way, for all the practice at observation without chakra or Sharingan he'd had. He recognized the chakra signatures of the ANBU escort. The Hokage appeared to have dispensed with Itachi's own escort, satisfied with placing a seal on his back that would force him into seizures should he displease any of five particular individuals in the village. It was an adaptation of the Caged Bird Seal that the Hyuuga Clan put on its branch members, and perhaps just as permanent.<p>

Hina slinked off to the back gate which Sasuke preferred to use, calling Denka, her fellow ninja cat and sibling, so that they could greet the youngest Uchiha. They had always loved Sasuke for indulging them and paying them special attention instead of just summoning them for their services. Not that Sasuke had been old enough to need a summons back then, or even to draw up a personal contract.

His brother had crouched down to pet the cats, who hadn't let him get farther than two strides from the door. Itachi's eyes swept past him and noticed Sasuke's sandals, arranged crookedly but with their toes pointing to the door. The footwear was a slightly darker blue than usual, and moisture was seeping out from underneath. Sasuke's hair also gleamed damply, though it would take a rainstorm to flatten those irrepressible tufts at the back. He had been training himself to walk on the lake again, a skill that most ninja learned after becoming genin. At twelve years old, Sasuke's chakra reserves were still negligible enough for the village council to allow him access.

"Aniki," he mumbled, straightening. Denka sighed as the hand that had been stroking his sleek-furred back withdrew. "I didn't graduate."

Itachi could have guessed from his sullen expression. He wondered how to break the news of his mission for all of three seconds before deciding to organize it in the format of a report. It was the only courtesy he could give his brother, to give him information concisely and clearly. "I'll be leaving for the border of Fire and Rain Country in a week."

Shock, disbelief, and terror chased each other through Sasuke's face. Huge dark eyes widened to an impossible size. "_What?_" He sounded as if Itachi had punched him in the gut. "What for?"

"The Hokage is sending me on a classified mission with several others. The mission has no definite end date, but we will be reporting on a weekly basis through a summons."

Denka stopped kneading Sasuke's feet with his paws long enough to nudge Hina in the shoulder. "Less snacking, more running."

"Yeah, boss," said the other cat, a little huffily. They seemed oblivious to Sasuke's rising dismay.

"Why?" His voice cracked. "Why you? What did you do? They won't let me graduate from that _f – ing _academy and they send you out just like that?" Itachi opened his mouth. "_I'm not the one who killed everybody!"_

He tore out of the room. Itachi let him go.

"Wise," said Denka. "Let him cool off first. It'll be good for you to get out of Konoha for a bit, anyway." His whiskers drooped and he ducked his head when Itachi finally looked down at him. "Hey, it's none of my doing!" he reminded the Uchiha.

Itachi didn't know if he felt angry or resigned, although he was in such a strange state of mind that the cat's defensiveness almost amused him. Whatever he felt, it assuredly wasn't guilt this time. He knew how that felt well enough to strike it off the list.

"Got any shishamo fish?" Hina asked hopefully.

* * *

><p>The balmy temperature should have felt wonderful, but the uniform clung to her back on the night of departure.<p>

Hana was not nervous by nature, especially once she knew the limits within which she could act on her discretion. That was exactly the problem. She had never been a squad leader before, nor sent on a mission that was over a month long.

That aside, everything seemed to be in order. Having said her farewells, she had checked her equipment and packed up mechanically by ten-thirty. At ten forty-five, she was slipping on her uniform, armor, and mask in the ANBU compound. Five minutes to eleven, Hana was surveying the village from a tree near the small western gate. The two shinobi standing guard didn't seem to notice, but then, they weren't supposed to.

At eleven, three infinitesimally small disturbances in the air announced the presence of the rest of the squad. It took another second for Hana to detect the muted chakra signatures; in any case, the slip had been deliberate.

Their sudden materialization startled the chuunin at the gate. Seeing so many ANBU in the same place had to inspire a twist of fear in anyone who wasn't an idiot.

Koga, the appointed leader of the other squad, flicked his hand at the chuunin in a quick gesture of dismissal. Even so, Hana knew they wouldn't be able to help keeping one wary eye on the proceedings, which compromised the security of the gate.

They had nothing to discuss, anyway. Just a quick appraisal and a nod, and Hana and her team left the village first, clearing the walls in one chakra-laced bound.

* * *

><p>After three days of near-silent travel – with most communication conveyed in a code of hand gestures – they stopped over at the outpost just before the one at the border with the second squad close on their heels. Although Ame was not yet in view, its perennial storm clouds spread over the horizon like a blot of watered ink on grey silk. Under their shadow, the air felt heavy and oppressive. The chill that blanketed the land did not belong at the beginning of summer.<p>

Mizuki, the chuunin who had shown them the room where they would be staying indefinitely, had smirked unkindly when Hana questioned him about the stack of plastic buckets in the corner.

"You'll see soon enough," was the reply.

The room was large enough for all eight of them to share with minimal compromise of personal space, if they left their egos outside. The floor had looked a little damp earlier, but Hana had wanted to think it was because someone had recently mopped it before their arrival. That might not have been entirely false, but it wasn't quite the hoped-for show of hospitality either. ANBU did not expect to live in luxury. It would have been nice, though, if only for a night. This was where Koga's squad would reside for the duration. Hana didn't envy them. At the same time, she doubted the next outpost would look much better.

A handful of guards were already grumbling about dinner. Their voices drifted up from the mess hall below. "With _his_ cooking, it's more like 'what goes down must come up'…"

Hana lifted her head and drew in a long breath through the holes of her mask. Mildew and rust.

She hoped they would learn to like the rain.

* * *

><p>The outpost on the border of Fire and Rain was a lost cause, but if this one had been erected a mere five kilometers southeast of its present location, its occupants could have enjoyed many drier afternoons - the wind current that generated almost all the sandstorms in the desert surrounding Suna also pushed the clouds across the northwestern tip of Fire Country, where the remainder of the storm broke over a plateau. Too bad the contractor had not bothered to consult any ninja who had taken missions in the surrounding area before obtaining the daimyo's seal of approval. The only consolation for any of the miserable laborers who had helped build the outpost was that its future residents would be in a position to appreciate their hardships.<p>

* * *

><p>It did not begin with a gentle pitter-patter and build into a torrent that filled all the crevices on the ground within minutes.<p>

It did not begin with a flash of violet-white in the sky and arrive with the deep growl of thunder.

It went more like this: plop plop plop (_drip_) hsssssssssssssh (_and sheets of water slid along the walls and tumbled over the edges_) plunk plonk plonk duoonk.

The ceiling was leaking, to exactly no one's surprise.

There were five major leaks in the ceiling: two concentrated near the northern corner of the room, one just in front of the window, and the last, a foot away from one of the only two electrical outlets.

The soft plunking of raindrops into the bucket by Aburame Muta's sandaled foot was punctuated by only the splash of rain into the other four buckets and the occasional dry crinkle of a turning page.

Muta's Bingo Book was dog-eared, written all over with color-coded notes – red for unconfirmed, blue for vouched-for by a trustworthy source, and underlined for near-absolute certainty. He had been writing in it since his first mission outside Konoha, beginning with a small observation that the southwestern coast of Fire Country served a shark fin soup of unparalleled quality. It was accompanied by a brief warning that a major thieves' syndicate led by a rogue Suna nin was based in the same area. (The shinobi in question was a chuunin and had yet to earn a page to himself in the Suna Bingo Book.) Upon the team's arrival at the outpost, Muta had made another annotation.

It was getting to the point where he could have typed up a fairly decent international appendix to the standard copy issued to Konoha's jounin. In another couple of months, any enemy nin who peeked over his shoulder would have considered the heavily defaced volume worth stealing. Friends, neutral acquaintances, or teammates might someday steal it out of sheer boredom.

Hyuuga Tokuma, for instance.

"You read the Bingo Book for _fun?_"

Muta didn't even look up. "Beats watching you lot pick your teeth with kunai in the mess hall. Don't you know where they've been?"

An extended pause succeeded his rhetorical question, punctuated by: plonk, plonk. Then, "Is it that interesting?"

Muta suppressed a sigh. "Riveting."

* * *

><p>Itachi leaned the side of his head against the wall and closed his eyes, trying a trick that his mother had taught him in the past. <em>One shuriken... two shuriken...<em>


	3. Chapter 3

_Note:_ A more plotty sort of chapter. More on Itachi's reaction and definitely more interaction between him and Hana to come.

As an aside, I don't think Tokuma or anybody we know started out as such levelheaded, sacrificial team players, which is why he's portrayed this way here.

The time/chronology of each section is a little convoluted. Please read carefully.

_**Shot 3.**_ The most festive place on earth, with the cheeriest company. It's a learning curve.

* * *

><p>Contrary to popular belief, it did not always rain around Amegakure. Ninety-five times out of a hundred, yes; not always. As a deliberate technique to discourage foreign aggressors, it was quite effective. Ninja from more hospitable places tended to stay indoors, even if the ceiling – here as well as in the last outpost – dripped horrifically.<p>

They prepared separately for their first foray into Amegakure. Muta compared his notes with copies of old reports at the base. Hana spoke to the chief of staff and surreptitiously sent out her dogs to gather as much background information as possible, on both the situation on the border and the individuals who had spent the better part of the year there. After all, one couldn't be too careful about the company one kept.

Tokuma and Itachi sparred the afternoon before it all came together, reviewing purely genjutsu-based offensives and counterattacks at what appeared to be the suggestion of the former. Neither of them said anything about the instructiveness of that session when they turned up at eight for the final rundown of their strategy. According to the local team who had been studying the weather patterns and ambient chakra fluctuations, the next day would give them a full day's respite from the downpour, followed by three days of light rain broken up by a few hours of fog in the afternoon.

It wasn't as if they'd die instantly if a several droplets happened to land on their person, but Hana preferred not to test the quality of their equipment so soon after arriving at the outpost – particularly not the exploding tags, which came in handy in tricky situations. Given the weather forecast, they could probably manage it.

The trick was to not get caught out in the rain.

* * *

><p><em>Update on Rat Infestation, 4244261.33 FA.9<em>

_Destination: Konohagakure_

_37th Dog from Post 26_

_..._

Hana wrote in the date and then paused, tapping the pen against her chin. The single bulb swinging eerily overhead threw a small circle of light on the desk. The feeble glow ended at Hana's shoulder. Stronger light would not have revealed more than a couple more square meters of floor space and a mottled wall that opened into a narrow staircase. They had set up the passageway between two tiny buildings – the most stable-looking of the abandoned tenements – in the afternoon, and sadly, it was by far the best constructed part of the edifice.

From behind Hana issued a low growl and sounds of a light scuffle. "Shosa, Chusa, knock it off."

The Haimaru brothers broke apart and panted. Shosa's whine was muffled by his paw. Hana shook her head and tried to compose the next lines of her report. Waiting for her to complete it had made the dogs restless, but she had missed their company so much, it seemed a shame to dismiss them until the report was finished.

Given the distances between the outposts and Konoha, Hana and her team had decided to rotate among their contractual summons to avoid exhausting any one particular messenger, but Itachi's cats had already delivered the report one week ago. Taisa, the more even-tempered of the triplets, had been sent with a brief message to the other squad back in outpost 25; were he present, Chusa and Shosa would be less inclined to indulge in puppyish tussling.

Of course, having the Haimaru brothers around for the first time in weeks didn't bring the report any closer to completion.

...

_At 0600, we set out to achieve the objective of establishing a temporary base of operations midway between 26 and Amegakure…_

* * *

><p>Through the years, a motley collection of villages had developed in the shadow of Amegakure, much like spores from a central fungal infestation. Perhaps that was an uncharitable comparison, but the first settlement that any of the four Konoha ANBU could deem remotely promising came after a series of irregularly spaced rain shelters trying to pass as habitable shacks. Somehow, enough of these structures had survived the frequent downpours in Village 1 to be built upon further. A vague sort of order had emerged from the haphazard jumble, until what could roughly qualify as streets – if you squinted – separated the crooked rows of hovels.<p>

The first sign of life came in the form of a man pushing a wheelbarrow full of refuse to dump it off in a narrow alley. It didn't seem to bother him that it had already overflowed into the main street. The muddy ground had yet to fully solidify, forcing the man to stop periodically and yank his clogs free of the ground with a sickly squelch.

The four ANBU congregated in forty minutes behind an abandoned tenement that looked like it would tip over in the next gust of wind. (It didn't, but it was a close thing.)

_My upper estimate of the population is two hundred, _signed Tokuma. _All civilians. _He hadn't seen any individuals with the elevated chakra circulation that went with ninjutsu training. Muted chakra signatures would naturally not have passed direct scrutiny with the Byakugan.

Muta had conducted an area recon through his kikai bugs. _I can confirm Tokuma's report; my bugs would have discovered those who escaped his notice. The village contains no secret caches of ninjutsu materials or equipment. It's possible that the settlement's proximity to the border discourages missing-nin from using it as _their_ base of operations. _Besides, if everything was as the Hokage had suspected, Amegakure itself was a well-fortified base of ops.

Hana looked at Itachi.

_No trace of genjutsu, nor fuinjutsu – that I could discern._

ANBU didn't waste time on modesty, so Itachi was informing her that identifying sealing techniques wasn't his forte. In hindsight, Hana realized that she should have gone over their respective strengths and weaknesses more thoroughly from the start. Muta's, she knew reasonably well, but it wouldn't have hurt to ask even Tokuma directly.

Itachi continued. _I found eight possibles, which I can cut down to four optimal in an additional fifteen minutes._

Muting one's chakra or using high level genjutsu still couldn't compare to disguise using the most basic techniques, which was why she had given Itachi the assignment of picking out several individuals whose identity they could feasibly borrow. Itachi could finish screening the unwitting candidates while they conducted a second sweep of the village. But first, Hana had to show them something that might alter their opinion on using the village as a midway base.

She pulled out the forehead protector she had found among the rubbish in the alley of trash, knowing the slashed-out leaf insignia would speak for itself.

* * *

><p><em>Dog requests a comparative analysis on the enclosed forehead protector and the one retrieved prior to this mission in border region 415, which, according to E.3992 filed on June 30, cannot predate the first decade after the Third Secret World War, based on the particular weave of the fabric.<em>

_..._

Taisa announced his return by putting his head in Hana's lap. As she stroked the short, rough fur along the top of his broad skull, the dog let out a low growl. "I'd like to crunch his spine in my teeth."

Hana glanced down at him. Despite the expressed wish to do violence, Taisa had spoken with his customary mild tone. Not urgent, then. "Whose?" She could think of a few individuals she would like to pulverize herself.

"That flea-bitten fur bag that's Uchiha's contract animal. Ran across him at the other outpost._ He _was stopping for treats."

Hana frowned at the paper. Should she rephrase it more concisely? "What was he doing there?" she asked.

Taisa flicked his ear irritably. "Getting copies of some of the reports at the other base. He claimed to be choosing them from the cabinets himself." The Haimaru brothers lacked the dexterity, if not the intelligence, for similar tasks.

"Huh." Itachi hadn't mentioned that he was taking the initiative in that area – nothing new, really, Hana thought, annoyed. Once again, she was left with the unenviable job of retroactively clearing it with their superiors and updating Koga's squad.

She set the pen down. Maybe, in her anxiety to perform well as acting captain, she was focusing too much on protocol. Hana couldn't imagine the likes of Copy Ninja Kakashi, for instance, getting bogged down by paperwork. _Actually, I _know _he didn't care. _She had served under his command a couple of times, and even remembered hearing Tenzou complain of picking up the slack on paperwork while he was Kakashi's lieutenant.

"Any word from Koga?"

Taisa padded over to his brothers, who had dozed off in a giant heap of softly snoring dog. "'All quiet.'"

She scanned over the parts she had written up and sighed. As of the last report, the Hokage had specifically asked for details on how the squad was functioning as a unit. Now, only the most difficult section remained: _team dynamics_.

This was going to take longer than she'd hoped.

* * *

><p>As soon as he came in through the door, the Hyuuga whirled on Muta. "How can you say for certain that you covered everything I did not?" Tokuma demanded, apropos of nothing.<p>

Hana hadn't told him beforehand that Muta's assignment would overlap with his. Was he angry about that? She opened her mouth to clarify what had seemed to her an obvious precaution to take, but Aburame beat her to it without looking up from his Bingo Book.

"One would think that a Hyuuga would be more than aware of the limitations of the Byakugan. I situated one of my kikai bugs on your blind spot."

"You _what?_" Tokuma started to claw frantically at the back of his head. "Get them out! Tell them to get out of my hair _now!_"

This was such an overreaction that Hana simply watched, nonplussed, until her sense kicked in. "Tokuma!" she said sharply. "Calm down."

Colorless eyes narrowed to slits through the mask. Tokuma's glare could have scalded the skin from her face. "I suppose _his_ behavior is completely fine with you, captain. Or did you ask him to do it yourself?" Noticing a flicker of movement that was beyond Hana's field of vision, he snapped, "Stay out of this, Uchiha. We could all do without your high and mighty attempts to make us look foolish."

Itachi moved away from the crooked window where he had been checking the setup of exploding tag and garrote wire. "You certainly don't need any assistance in that area." The deadly stillness of his body and the crimson eyes belied his calm voice.

"Not helping, Itachi," said Hana, feeling an overwhelming irritation. Was this really how adult males interacted? She must have lucked out in her earlier teams.

Or _her _leadership was the root of the problem.

"No, Tokuma, I didn't ask Muta to plant his bugs on the back of your head. Muta, if any of them are still there, please remove them now." Aburame nodded without moving his eyes away from the page.

The way she saw it, Tokuma was offended by a decision that seemed to show low confidence in his abilities. Since he couldn't vent directly on the squad leader, he had shifted his anger to Muta, whose disrespect only exacerbated the bad feelings.

"Tokuma."

Although he followed her off to the side, he was still glaring. Icily. "Yes, captain?"

Hana drummed her fingers on the top of a dusty shelf. "Control your temper," she said at last. When he looked about to argue, she held up her hand. "I don't care what was said, nor by whom. Itachi didn't even say anything before you dragged him into it."

The Hyuuga's silence made her think that he was considering her words. It was a false hope. "What if I told you that the only reason you're captain, Inuzuka," he said in a low voice, "is because the Hokage didn't think I or Aburame would give a shit about whatever rubbish comes out of Itachi's mouth?"

Hana felt a sense of foreboding. "And?"

"What else?" The Hyuuga let out an unkind laugh. "We know now that _he _can get away with murder as long as we're under you. Or as long as you're under him…"

Anger struck so powerfully that Hana's hand was halfway to decking him in the face before she arrested its motion. She very nearly shouted at him anyway. But that would make her a hypocrite. "Is that what you say?"

He met her gaze. "Does it matter?" he asked coolly.

She looked at him until one of the rusted nails holding up the shelf suddenly gave way. The wooden board swung down with a loud creak. Her fingernails had left long gouge marks on its surface.

Tokuma had moved to the other connected room for the time being. Itachi was perched on a wretched-looking chair, cleaning his shuriken, while Muta was studiously ignoring everyone. Hana didn't miss how far apart they were all trying to sit, despite the cramped quarters.

She felt no desire to go after the Hyuuga, even though she knew their confrontation – and his implicit insubordination – couldn't be allowed to fester. Yet if Hana could dismiss the rest of what Tokuma had flung at her as rubbish, he did have some valid grounds for complaint – and it had to do with Itachi.

* * *

><p>Like most of the other, sun-deprived inhabitants of the village, all four had ashen skin verging on translucent, blank dark eyes, and a rather grim twist to their mouths.<p>

The first was the father of a family of four, including the man himself. "His wife and children will miss him,"Hana pointed out.

"Not if they think he's there_,_"replied Itachi.

Genjutsu was always an option, but…

Muta tilted his head. "Were we not going to use chakra-based techniques as little as possible?"

Hana could see where Itachi was coming from, though. Since it was so counterintuitive to choose an identity whose absence would be suspected by several other individuals, there might be some merit to using him. "Does he have any extended family?"

"They all died of illness two years ago, except for a grandmother on the mother's side. She has a childlike temperament and is widely considered demented. They keep her confined to her bed."

The man looked like he might possess a wiry strength, which meant that any muscle-straining feats – as long as they weren't excessive – would attract less attention than if their second candidate, a young girl around ten to eleven years old, did likewise.

The person whose shadow clone would replace the girl would guard the base from the outside when necessary, and continue their investigation of the settlements when not. After all, a street urchin rooting through the trash for food wouldn't surprise anyone.

The girl was so malnourished that even though Itachi told them she considered herself ten years old, she had the stature of a seven-year-old in Konoha. Hana felt a stir of pity, which Tokuma's comment interrupted.

"We should have brought a Yamanaka."

To which the Uchiha simply responded, without any attempt to sound less terse, "No_._"

Hana was sure the Hyuuga's eyebrows had shot up to his hairline behind the mask. "Problem, Itachi?"

"We are borrowing identities, not controlling their bodies."

"Either way, we're already putting them in danger," said Tokuma, sounding patronizing. "It doesn't really matter whether the real ones are unconscious in some underground room or doing the job."

Hana changed the subject before Itachi could respond in kind. "And the two others?"

The third and fourth were a childless, middle-aged couple by the name of Hajime and Yuriko. The husband had a wasting sickness which he had kept hidden from his wife, and he had an estimated two or three months of life remaining, though he didn't look it. Apparently, they had close ties to family living in Amegakure proper – relatives who, unlike them, were ninja.

That gave them a starting point to fabricate a pretext to approach Amegakure, or, alternately, acquire some pawns whose skills and presence in that village would not immediately provoke suspicion.

A plan was forming rapidly in Hana's mind. "Muta, because of your kikai, your chakra levels won't attract as much attention, and as I understand it, they also give you a certain advantage against genjutsu. Tokuma, what are Hajime and Yuriko's respective chakra levels?"

The Hyuuga activated his Byakugan. "Hajime has relatively high chakra reserves for a civilian. Yuriko's levels would compare negatively to that of a first-year academy student."

"Good. Then it makes the most sense if Muta assumes Hajime's identity and clones Yuriko with the kikai bugs."

"Understood," said Muta.

"Tokuma and Itachi –"

"That won't work."

All three of them stared at Itachi.

Hana warned herself not to take it as a personal slight. Itachi had a lot to contribute; that was why the Hokage had put him on this team. "Why do you think so?"

"To the people who live on the outskirts, such as this village, rain falls according to the whim of a god. But those who live closer to Amegakure understand it differently. They believe it only rains over this region whenever the god of Amegakure is absent from the village. In other words…"

_Whoever controls and runs this village is back._

"We have a better chance during rainfall, when the genjutsu sealed to the walls of the village is at its weakest."

A biting wind rippled over Hana's bare arm. "How did you learn all of this, Itachi?"

She sensed Tokuma's ire before Itachi began to answer. "I did recon with one shadow clone in the settlements farther along and continued to Amegakure, where I first saw the fuinjutsu reinforcing its walls." Itachi's neutral expression gave no indication that he felt the displeasure of his small audience at all. "Amegakure's gates cannot be opened without the blood of a recognized resident. Moreover, once the guard inside its walls gives his consent, the guards of the other gates must suspend the barrier at the five other gates at the same time."

Maybe it had been a long time, but Itachi clearly lacked any concept of what it meant to act as part of a team. He had taken risks by himself to gain information that one of his teammates could have obtained in relatively less danger, and although he had results to show for that unilateral mission, it set a poor precedent.

Hana spared only a second for this thought; any longer, and any one of the rest of them might give voice to it. Now was not the time. "Good to know. If what you say is true, then establishing a base should continue to take priority. Tokuma, Itachi – secure the perimeter for five meters around these two buildings. Muta, come with me." His kikai bugs would assist in designing the connecting passageway they would make underground, which she planned to open up with a few earth-based ninjutsu.

It was trying work, given the unpleasant mixture of mud and bedrock they had to work with, but somehow, Hana looked forward to dealing with Itachi even less.

She decided to act after Tokuma had left to take the first watch. At her approach, Itachi raised his head and turned from the window.

His politeness was encouraging. Hana jerked her head towards the passageway and led him to the connected room, which contained a chair, a table that doubled as a desk, and a series of low shelves. It had probably once served as a storage room.

Itachi stood at one end of the desk, standing so that the light bulb barely illuminated the line of his jaw, but near enough so that it was difficult for Hana's eyes to adjust to the darkness. He probably had done that on purpose.

Hana had gone over several possible ways to broach the subject and concluded that there were no graceful alternatives. They were in an awkward position. Itachi had once been an ANBU captain, not just an acting squad leader. He must have come up with his own method of leading and a personal conception of how an ANBU team should function. And Hana had no access to that information.

_So ask._

"Itachi, when you were captain, how much leeway did your team expect to have to achieve an objective?"

He appraised her with an inscrutable expression. Hana found herself tensing. Was she the captain, or was he? What sort of authority did she really have? How much did she even deserve?

"We had an understanding," said Itachi. "I trusted my team to handle their end in whatever way they saw fit."

_You? Trust anyone else? _Hana wanted to laugh. That wouldn't go over well. "I see." She counted to ten in her head. "I'm just trying to see why you went ahead and investigated Amegakure's defenses by yourself. I have to admit, you did a good job with that."

Itachi said nothing. He must have known what was coming.

"The main issue I have with your actions is that we didn't have an understanding." Hana looked at him levelly. "When you do things on your own without mentioning it to anyone else on this team, you end up making all of us less efficient, not more. I'm open to insight from everyone on this team. If you thought this was progressing too slowly, you could have said so. And I would have sent Muta to do what you just did, at much less risk." So many people, good genjutsu-users included, forgot about the dimension of smell. The shadows might hide his face, but Itachi's scent didn't lie. "You've exhausted yourself from maintaining shadow clones for the greater part of a day. You may be a high-level shinobi, but you have weaknesses, and one of them is stamina. What if we had needed you as a genjutsu-user later? How long would you be able to last after running yourself into the ground like this?"

The small room felt heavy with tension. Hana suppressed a sigh, trying to relax her muscles. She'd said her piece; whether or not it had reached Itachi at all remained to be seen. She softened her voice slightly. "Go get some rest. You'll take the last watch."

* * *

><p>After he had left, she sat down at the desk and started on the report. When Chusa woke up and prodded her arm with his muzzle, she was still wracking her brains for an appropriate way to describe how dysfunctional their team actually was without sounding exasperated. Or disappointed. It wouldn't do to chide the Hokage himself. <em>Especially since the incompetence is mine.<em>

"I've been thinking about the four locals we found," she murmured to Chusa. "Itachi may be right. Using them might take too long." Not that the Uchiha had bothered to come out and say that. He had simply done as he'd been instructed and then conducted his own recon on the side.

What then? Deep in thought, she picked up the battered forehead protector on the desk and ran a finger over the long slash marring the leaf symbol. Her fingernail slotted nicely into the groove.

_Wait a minute._

She took a kunai from her pouch and traced the slash lightly with the tip. Just as she had thought, the groove was more rounded than a slash made with a kunai. Metal erosion didn't explain the scooped-out edges.

Using the hem of her black uniform, Hana buffed the metal plate until it was as clean as it could get and held it close to her eyes.

She had begun to suspect that the scratch mark had been made with a chakra-enhanced nail instead. At the deepest part of the slash was a thinner groove no wider than a hair's breadth, cut with clinical precision. The other trash in the alley had prevented the mud from seeping into the narrower groove. Hana sniffed at it.

"Chusa, smell this."

The dog bent his head over the metal plate and took a pensive draught. "Someone's blood."

"Deliberately embedded in the metal, it seems." The fabric was fraying and felt almost as fine as silk in her hand. "There's a pail half full of water in the other room. Can you go get it?"

No matter how often one washed a frequently worn article, the scent of the person who used to wear it tended to linger. Hana rinsed and rubbed the cloth ends of the forehead protector in the rainwater collected in the bucket until the mud particles trapped in the weave were mostly gone.

It took another while for the cloth to dry to a manageable dampness, during which she bounced her theory off Chusa. "I don't think this forehead protector or the other one that was found earlier belonged to missing-nin from Konoha. Of course, I can't examine the other one, but if we find a third one of these, or even a fourth, in settlements successively closer to Amegakure itself, won't it seem to you more like a trail we're meant to follow?"

"Do you think someone is trapped in Amegakure?" asked Chusa.

"Possibly. But then, why Konoha forehead protectors?"

"It caught the Sandaime's attention."

"But it's not as if those things are just handed out to anyone. The only time it's separated from its wearer is if the wearer died or got a replacement – and even then, it's the cloth that gets replaced, not the metal." _Where would someone have gotten so many of these? _The last time Konoha had sent that many ninja to Rain had been at least thirty years ago. Any forehead protectors left over from that time should not have been so close to the top of the trash heap. Although, now that she thought of it this way, dating the forehead protectors to any particular decade would probably clarify a lot less than she'd previously hoped.

Chusa dragged the forehead protector from the desk with his teeth and put his nose against the fabric. After a moment, he looked up.

"The scent is different from the one who left blood in the metal. I've smelled something similar to it before. There's a common element… some relation or other."

"Where?"

Chusa licked his nose and sniffed the cloth again. "I'm not sure." He looked so sad about disappointing Hana that she scratched him behind the ears.

"Don't worry about it. You've done well. Maybe it'll come back to you."

The dog watched her edit the report, crossing out the lines that referred to the second forehead protector. She was going to hang on to it a little longer. "What will you do next?"

Hana finished rolling up the message and passed it to Chusa, who gripped it delicately with his teeth.

"We keep looking."

_And hope this team doesn't eat itself alive in the next few weeks._


	4. Chapter 4

_Note:_ Some of these were partially inspired by songs. Some of these were also written while listening to "Princess of China"…

Plot will be made clearer in subsequent chapters. For now, enjoy a break from the narrative style. Thanks for reading!

_Disclaimer for this chapter: _A few of these drabbles mock characterizations or plot points in the Naruto canon and fandom which have both amused and annoyed me (sometimes simultaneously).

_**Interlude.**_ Itachi, Hana, and Co., in the alternate universe where they have to work together on an ANBU team.

_and - _

_**Shot 4. **_Questions of loyalty become a little more complicated.

* * *

><p><em>Argument<em>

Itachi doesn't object when Inuzuka Hana tells him off for conducting his own mission on the side. As reprimands go, it's a slap on the back of his hand, and if she's as smart as her eyes hint, she'll adapt to the realities of the situation.

He has his reasons. Itachi has yet to win a dispute without resorting to some kind of blackmail, and at this point, he has neither the leverage nor the desire to threaten this girl (_is she really older than him?_). He means to let her learn on her own, not cow her into submission.

He's silent because he did argue once, when it truly mattered, and as a result, hundreds of people have died and the number of foreign threats against Konoha has doubled. If he ever feels the impulse to speak up, these statistics serve as a forceful deterrent.

…..

_Method_

Fighting alone, Hana will let enemy shuriken slice through the air over her head and simply take note of that tree where five exploding tags wait for the unwary ninja; on this occasion and many more to come, she counters the shuriken with her own and times it so that the rebounding weapon detonates the tags harmlessly.

It offends the three males on her team. Unexpectedly, the Aburame is the one who quietly explains to her how unnecessary it is, before he sees his mistake in her expression. "We aren't four ninja who just happen to be on the same side in a fight," she says, just as firmly.

Hana suppresses a sigh when Muta and his teammates, who are within earshot, turn away with looks of skepticism. They'll learn, but it will take a while. It's almost like – she thinks wryly – conditioning. And if the Haimaru brothers (_who_ _were every bit as stubborn when they were pups_) can learn, so can these three shinobi.

…..

_Innate_

Hyuuga Tokuma's rib is poking out of the hole in his side, and that's the least of his problems. Itachi thinks soberly that he knows so many ways to kill or incapacitate a man, but he should have observed more medic-nin at work. To learn how to heal instead of murder.

But no; that was never his talent.

…..

_Perspective_

He weaves illusions for the ragged-looking family whose one-room house they have borrowed. One of Hana's ninken carries Tokuma through the door, and together they ease the wounded man off his back.

Hana summons chakra to her hand to begin staunching the Hyuuga's injury, but Tokuma's chakra fights her every step of the way, thanks to the Caged Bird Seal. Itachi can see the alternatives run through her mind, but it is one of those instances where the Inuzuka's thoughts outpace his. Only when she asks Muta to use his insects to reduce Tokuma's chakra response does he see how Hana plans to rescue their teammate without relying on fancy techniques that none of them know.

They are all sapped of energy when it is done, and the stench of blood saturates the small room. Hana's eyes dart to the closed shutters and then drifts to Itachi, who is standing by the window. He returns her stare, taking in the hands still stained with blood, the hair sticking to the side of her face, the momentary blankness in her face that indicates exhaustion.

He doesn't know what she sees in _his_, but Hana smiles at him – wearily, but nonetheless. "This place does have one over Outpost 25 and 26," she says, and Itachi follows her grateful gaze to the ceiling, which – of all the miraculous signs – admits not a single drop of rain.

…

_Confession_

"Most of the medical techniques I know come from studying veterinary medicine," Hana admits when Tokuma thanks her stiffly. "Granted, you're slightly different from a canine, but it seems to have worked out fairly well." The Hyuuga only looks offended.

She tries to suppress a grin, but then catches sight of Itachi behind him, silhouetted against the feeble light from the window, and fails completely because there's a small smirk curving the corners of his mouth.

…..

_Gesture_

When Aburame Muta spreads open his Bingo Book and shares the information written in the margins, the significance of the gesture does not escape Hana.

…..

_Subtle_

They have one more gate to open after the outermost six. With a movement so fast that Itachi catches it only with the Sharingan, Hana and her ninken finish off the guard with a well-timed _Gatsuga. _The crimson that spurts out of the torn neck flecks her right cheek. She looks disoriented, but the moment does not last. She brings the decapitated head to the door and mashes it against the wall so that blood runs down the metal and over the seal.

The inner gate opens and the genjutsu falls from their eyes without fanfare. Amegakure's skyscrapers rise to the clouds like jagged teeth sinking into the sky. Despite this, Hana frowns; Itachi speculates that it's not quite the stealthy entrance they had all been looking for, but time is in short supply, and surely the missing-nin within the village have been aware of the presence of ANBU since their first, ill-fated attempt to enter.

There'll be a next time, and they'll do better then.

…

_Reliance_

It's not a declaration of loyalty, but something inside Itachi loosens, unbends with a momentary sting; they will remember trusting each other that night, and someday, it won't just be a memory.

…..

_None of that_

He sees their consternation through a red-tinted film, and when he braces a hand against the wall, all three of them lurch forward. "F – you, Itachi" is the nicest thing that Tokuma says to him, and Hana whispers as she catches him, "I did warn you," which he knows she thinks is a statement he'll find infinitely annoying, when in fact, he'll be infinitely annoyed if those _are _the last words she ever addresses to him. But it's no good; his vision and his consciousness are going to pieces with brilliant effusions of pain.

He'll wake soon enough, and he'll hear them talk over his head with derision – "Stop being so melodramatic, Uchiha " – and understand that their contempt stands in for palpable relief that he was not, after all, a hopeless case for one of the best medics that Konoha has managed to produce, even if she is far past her prime.

…

_Incarnadine; a memory _

His cousin's wretched, bleeding face freezes Itachi on his feet. Danzou has already claimed one of Shisui's eyes – Danzou, the man who lives and breathes for Konoha and tells him coldly, _Kill all traitors – _yet Shisui's mouth curves in a lopsided smile. "Look, Itachi, I know the genealogies in the clan archives say we're cousins, but I swear to you that I always considered you my brother, and I don't count my death a loss."

_Likewise_, he wants to say, but unlike those times when he's called upon to lie, Itachi's throat closes up. That is the first day that the sky runs red. It is also the first day that his younger brother stares at him with real fear.

…..

_Vacation_

It's a common joke in the ANBU that there is no such thing as being off-duty, only a slow day on the job. That said, Hana finds Earth Country much more preferable to Rain, and as close to a vacation as she's ever had since her stint as ANBU captain began. She knows it's wrong to be so happy on a mission that involves something as dire as international diplomacy (_suppose that ruled out collapsing tunnels or enormous fiery explosions_) but it's hard not to feel exhilarated while tearing through a landscape filled with flora and fauna she has never encountered before.

The biggest difference between Iwa and Ame, surprisingly, is not the lack of torrential rain, but the unspoken accord between the four members of the team. This time, she can count on them to watch her back.

…

_Contrast_

There is no escape for that man who calls himself Kakuzu, not unless he wants his companion to die – which the man promptly brings about with a lightning-based attack. Itachi reads Kakuzu's intention before he finishes the first hand-seal, and so the backlash from the technique rips through a forest of cables and steel pipes and the shinobi whom Kakuzu betrayed, but nothing else.

None of his teammates thank him explicitly for it later; at this point, they've lost track of how often they've done the same for each other.

…..

_Reversal_

It's been so long since they were actually in Konoha that the villagers' cold reception as they leave the ANBU compound sans gear comes as a minor, unpleasant surprise. A passing shinobi mutters something darkly to his friend, shooting them a look of deep loathing; before she thinks better of it, Hana says, "Excuse me, would you care to repeat that?"

The man blinks, shakes his head, and that could be the end of it – except that he whispers in sotto voce to his companion something that sounds suspiciously like _Uchiha's bitch._

The poor idiot actually wets his pants when three deadly glares pin him where he stands; Hana signals to the three ANBU – the Hyuuga in particular – to stand down. _You'd have said the same a few months ago,_ she points out, and Tokuma leaves off, looking slightly ashamed.

…..

_Jaded _

Itachi may be a year younger than her, but Hana often feels like a naïve, idealistic child in his presence – much as she feels when she thinks more carefully about Kakashi, who brings his dogs to her whenever they have health issues. He still wears his ANBU gloves and moves as soundlessly as if an enemy lurks behind every corner, waiting to exact a personal revenge.

….

_Obon_

Hana is two blocks away from the residential district when she sees the solitary figure leaning on the balustrade of the bridge; although the entire village seems to be celebrating, Itachi is in full uniform, and she knows her eyes would have gone right past him if he hadn't wanted to be seen. His travel pack and rolled up cloak lie at his feet.

"You're leaving your brother to light all the lanterns by himself?" she asks. There is a curious edge beneath his customary politeness – _we're not lighting any – _and she's left uncertain of where she is going but unwilling to drop the subject just yet. "You know what they say – if you don't light the lanterns, your ancestors' spirits might lose their way home."

If she squints, she can see the shadow of a smile on his face, though he has looked happier while bleeding from his eyes – "If only."

….

_Marred_

Itachi is surprised by his desire to stand closer than usual to his erstwhile captain and feel the texture of her kimono under his hands. He resists the impulse; maybe it is superstition, but today of all days, he would rather not stain her with his touch while he's wearing a uniform that surely reeks of old blood to her.

….

_Territorial_

ANBU squads are formed according to the demands of each mission, or so she tells herself when she feels unaccountably jealous of whoever will be going with him. "You're captain, of course," she says, and he doesn't deny it. "About time."

….

_Confession, Part Two_

A stone arcs over the water, thumping up ripples as it skips over the surface. "I don't have the temperament for ANBU," says Itachi; "I was glad not to be captain."

"Would you resign if you could?" she asks, and he nods. He doesn't mind letting Hana know; she seems to understand that being good at something doesn't mean you necessarily enjoy doing it.

….

_Imagine_

Hana tries – with limited success – to imagine Itachi in the standard green jounin vest, his name entered in the lottery to become the instructor of a genin team; an Itachi who will never again put on the ANBU uniform that fits him so well.

….

_Hindsight_

Sometimes Itachi looks back on their first mission in Amegakure and thinks of ways they could have saved it.

…_.._

_Déjà vu _

Unsettling revelations aside, Tsunade's return to Konoha has probably raised the average life expectancy of every ninja in the village, but it doesn't mean showing up at the hospital is a pleasant experience.

_Decidedly_ not when the fearsome woman herself chews you out for letting your teammate come home bleeding from the eyes, never mind that he should have known better (_he'll get his later, when he's awake_) or that Itachi has always acted like a law unto himself (_even if he and the rest of the squad tend to agree on tactics these days_) – this is _your responsibility, you are _captain_, so you should figure out if you could live with yourself if one of your teammates died on your watch – _

It's better not to say anything when Tsunade gets going, although it seems like a more vehement harangue than the situation merits. Is it just Hana's imagination, or does the woman's face look even paler than normal? She's heard that Konoha's greatest medic is hemophobic, but she's at a loss as to why; it doesn't seem like the usual PTSD.

….

_Expectations_

Just because there's an understanding now doesn't mean that he always agrees with their point of view, and he expects his teammates to react negatively when they find out he has already killed the Iwa nin after the interrogation. What he doesn't expect though, is how much it stings to see their lack of surprise.

….

_In another life_

There's nothing quite like hearing Itachi elaborate – if a little blandly – on the alternative he saw to the brutal suppression of the Uchiha coup. What's done is done, but Hana finds herself trying to persuade him anyway that just wiping out his entire clan _would _have been worse. "Besides," she adds, believing this will end his speculations, "what would you have done about your brother?"

"I would leave him alive to tie up loose ends."

The answer is as opaque to her as it was five minutes ago. "_How_ was this to happen?"

"Hatred of me would motivate him to avenge his family, return to Konoha a hero, and live out the rest of his life in relative peace."

It is at moments like these that Hana uncharitably wonders if Itachi was born with the EQ of a deep-sea fish. Well, he _is _an Uchiha.

….

_Fair_

_I'm not being _nice, Hana informs them scathingly when the Aburame insists that taking the first shower is the captain's prerogative; _you all stink a lot more than I do. _Ultimately, they determine the shower-order by _jan-ken-pon_. Tokuma goes first and Hana gets to go second-to-last, after Muta; Itachi is the last. None of them warn the next person about the bitterly cold water.

…

_Scars_

On the rare occasion that they stop at a place where they can indulge in baths, Hana's teammates, who – unlike her – usually neglect to bring more than one spare set of their uniform, will opt to rinse out their grimy, bloodstained shirts under the faucet and hang them up to dry overnight. What this amounts to is being surrounded by a lot of shirtless men smelling of cheap soap (_ANBU-issue or inn-provided; neither smells much better than the other in Hana's opinion_) and themselves.

When she first starts out in ANBU, Hana thinks it's more polite not to look at anyone's scars; gradually, it becomes apparent that no one minds all that much (_besides, it's not as if she's staring fixedly at any one person_). She already knows the story behind Tokuma's freshest scar, and there is no power on earth that will make her ask Muta about the latticework of lines that healed white all over his arms and back. Itachi, on the other hand, hardly has any visible scars at all. Considering his long hiatus from high-level missions, it isn't that shocking.

It's a false impression, in any case. Itachi's scars _are_ highly visible, in the way he talks and acts and looks at everything, in his lack of reaction to the sneers that greet him wherever he goes in Konoha. Hana doesn't know if she wants to slap him or pity him for choosing to be such a martyr.

* * *

><p>.<p>

* * *

><p>"Come in," said the man behind the door.<p>

After their last mission in the bowels of River Country, the fifth basement level of the ANBU compound no longer felt as oppressive. But it was that much closer to the interrogation cells, and if Hana couldn't smell any of the prisoners, she still knew they were there, a few levels below. Ever since the failed coup, many of these prisoners had to be related to Itachi in some way.

Shimura Danzou greeted her on his feet. "Inuzuka Hana."

"Sir?" The summons to this customarily off-limits level hadn't said much more than when and where she was to show up and the name of the village elder who had ordered her presence. It was the first time she had ever met him in person or even seen him. Small wonder, when he had probably been recuperating all this time from the injuries beneath the bandages covering half his face. A thick brown robe hid his right arm and shoulder from view.

"I commend you for leading your squad in another successful mission. The intelligence we have gained from your infiltration of the Akatsuki base in River Country may prove invaluable to Konoha's security."

Hana lowered her eyes, trying to look more grateful for the praise than quietly bemused. They had done _alright_, she supposed, for trying to snoop around a base full of criminals who could have autographed eight to nine pages of Muta's international Bingo Book. But plans A through D had fallen apart spectacularly through a combination of bad luck and insufficient recon. They'd set Itachi to interrogate a shinobi who turned out to be a foul-mouthed, immortal, masochistic demon. The other shinobi, a missing-nin from Mist, had a sword which specialized in eating chakra and therefore neutralized most of Tokuma's most devastating attacks. Muta's kikai bugs nearly killed themselves trying to devour Kisame's overwhelming chakra reserves. In the end, Hana had needed to smash an escape route through several meters of solid rock and collapse the tunnels behind them.

They should have gotten a lot more information. Instead, they'd had to flee the area with their cover blown, and all they really had to show for it was the confirmation that, yes, the Akatsuki wanted to capture all the jinchuuriki for some reason. _Successful _wasn't the word Hana would personally have picked to describe the mission. _Narrowly avoiding catastrophe _was longer, but perhaps more apt.

"And you haven't had any significant difficulties with your squad."

Hana met Danzou's eyes – or eye, since only one of them was visible. "No, sir." Things had to be pretty dire for any ANBU captain to report it as a problem to someone important like Danzou. Seventy-five percent death rates, treachery, stuff like that.

"It would be understandable if there were."

She nodded, unsure of where he was leading. "If there's ever an issue, I will report it directly to the Hokage, sir."

Inexplicably, a muscle twitched in Danzou's jaw, and his brow wrinkled slightly in what appeared to be irritation. Hana would be surer if she could smell him without the heavy cloud of medicinal odors that hung around him. "You are working with individuals from three out of the four noble clans of Konoha. I would not be surprised if there were some tensions at first." His mouth compressed in an appraising line. "And I, too, once served on a team with an Uchiha." He rubbed his right arm, as if to ease a stiff muscle.

Might as well come out and ask. "Is there… a particular matter you wished to discuss, sir?"

"As it happens – yes." Danzou walked around a desk where he must spend some time on a daily basis, receiving and reviewing reports; Hana glimpsed the familiar letterhead of an official ANBU memo before Danzou swept it out of sight. "When I led an ANBU division, I preferred to speak succinctly. I trust you will understand, captain." He waited for her to bow her head again before continuing. "Has the Uchiha been anything but a cooperative member of the squad?"

_He's gotten better, _she thought of saying. Coordinating their actions after everyone agreed on basic tactics had made it much less exasperating.

Something about the whole setup, the strained air of casualness mixed with gravity in this uncomfortable interview, stopped Hana from admitting any of that. "No, not that I can say, sir."

"What do you mean?"

It was a mistake to have added that qualifier, though she didn't want to lie. "There were the usual tensions starting out, but nothing out of the ordinary."

"There should be no tensions," said Danzou severely; "ANBU operatives are trained to be professional in every aspect of their work." Which, initially, sounded like a contradiction of his previous concession, but then again, he'd only stated that difficulties would be _understandable _in this case, not the norm.

"I blame my own inexperience, sir."

"And now?"

"Now, I believe we are an effective team."

Danzou nodded slowly. His voice softened a little, although his single eye watched her as piercingly as ever. "If there is one thing you should keep in mind about Itachi, Inuzuka, it is that he does not share the same concept of loyalty as you and I do. We – I know I can speak with confidence – are loyal to Konoha and willing to make personal sacrifices for the good of the entire village. Uchiha Itachi is loyal only to people, to individuals… it isn't inherently a concern, but it is a flawed loyalty. He will be prone to do selfish things that damage the good of the whole."

Did Danzou really believe that – of her or of Itachi? Hana fought back the questions rising to her throat. Fortunately, ANBU had given her plenty of practice at it. What he thought would persuade her probably said more than what he explicitly professed.

"You are in a unique situation, but the Hokage has seen fit to entrust this position to you… and it seems that you are of a sufficient caliber for the task. However, the Hokage is often extremely busy, and will only continue to be so as the date of the chuunin exams approach. You and the other ANBU captains will be debriefed on the measures we will take to ensure Konoha's safety. I add only this: keep an eye on the Uchiha for the wellbeing of us all. If you observe anything questionable, do not hesitate to inform me."

Hana swallowed. The idea of reporting on a member of her squad, Uchiha or not, sat ill with her. Maybe Danzou was wrong, in any case – their last assignment proved that they _weren't _an indestructible Golden Team, so they might get split up more frequently in the future.

"You may even cultivate some personal loyalty, if that will simplify matters."

Hana kept her expression neutral. Did Danzou want her to become a leash for Itachi? The suggestion bothered her. She would have been willing to visit Itachi now and then, see how he was doing, especially now that his younger brother had been allowed onto a genin team on probationary status. After this talk, anything she tried would feel tainted.

"Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir," she said.


	5. Chapter 5

_Note:_ Dear readers – thank you for sticking around. I offer no apologies for real life distractions, but I do apologize for any stylistic unevenness and plot inconsistencies.

Time/chronology will be a little wonky in this one, too (internally and relative to the previous installment, "Interlude"), but it should be easy to pick up on. If not, leave a comment and let me know. FYI: Iwa's connections with the Akatsuki are canon. :D There are also a ton of lovely Hyuuga techniques that I'm afraid Tokuma won't be able to do, as he's 1) not part of the Main branch and 2) not a genius, a.k.a. Neji. :[

_Warning:_ Some unpleasant commentary on the ANBU here.

_**Shot 5.**_ They had been on the verge of completing a mission. Now they were going to capture a rogue ninja, rescue the enemy, and plant a spy among a cadre of S-class missing-nin.

* * *

><p>Sasori adjusted the wide brim of the hat so that the shade fell over Hiruko's eyes. The early evening glare didn't hurt him, but it limited Sasori's vision – a design flaw in the outer puppet that he would correct, once this annoying interruption of his activities reached its end.<p>

His gaze climbed the blunt, inelegant ridges of a mountain shoulder curving to the north of Iwa. At this distance, the village had all the visual interest of a boulder in a dried-up riverbed. Nothing moved as far as the eye could see; Sasori could well imagine that the torpid country had bored all other life forms to death or, at the very least, into exile. His breath rasped softly through apertures cut in lacquered wood and metal. He was alone.

When the ten members of the Akatsuki began to track down the bijuu, Orochimaru had become increasingly reclusive. He appeared when summoned to meetings, but Sasori traveled alone more often than not, resenting Orochimaru for conducting independent work while _he _suspended his own for Akatsuki objectives.

Five days ago, Konan had contacted Sasori at the southern border of Earth Country to address this subject.

The woman expressed no surprise on finding him alone. Then again, she hadn't so much as raised an eyebrow when Kakuzu mentioned off-hand at one of their general debriefings that he had killed his latest partner. Again. (Sasori had contemplated doing likewise with his for a long time now.) All she told Kakuzu was to borrow Kisame's.

"Before you go after the vessel of the Five Tails," said Konan, "there is someone you need to collect from Iwa by the name of Deidara."

Sasori's irritation manifested in a series of soft clicks – mechanisms in Hiruko that loosened the vertebrae along his retracted tail. "What is he?"

"Explosives expert. One of Iwa's youngest and brightest. He will be fifteen at most." Konan's stare flickered past Sasori for an instant, focusing on something beyond his line of vision. The moment ended. Sleet-grey eyes snapped back to his face – or rather, the puppet Hiruko's. "You have a question, Sasori?"

He hated that the woman could read his reaction through a mask of wood and steel that confounded everyone else who saw it. "Am I to bring him to Ame _alive?_"

Konan's voice grew icier and even more reserved, if that was possible. "You are to capture the Five Tails _with _Deidara. As working partners."

The purpose of the additional assignment was so obvious that it had, in fact, escaped Sasori. So Orochimaru would finally reap the fruit of his incompetence, and even Pein apparently had his limits. Allowing a prisoner to orchestrate an escape from one of Ame's strongest holding cells by signaling to Konoha ANBU with old forehead protectors was the last straw.

Aloud, Sasori snapped, "I have no use for an explosives expert."

Konan tilted her head slightly. "Deidara has some… artistic inclinations."

"Irrelevant." He expected quite little by way of aesthetic taste of anyone who worked with materials as fleeting and imprecise as bombs. "He will only get in the way." That struck Sasori as infinitely worse than Orochimaru's absence.

Konan ignored his response as an adult might feign deafness to a toddler's complaint. "Deidara is currently in Iwa. We expect you both to return with the jinchuuriki by the end of the month. Move quickly. Neither of your targets is expected to stay in his last known location for much longer."

She didn't even glance down at her abdomen, from which the tip of Hiruko's tail had suddenly sprouted.

"Childish, Sasori," Konan said softly, before scattering in a cloud of several thousand paper butterflies. A handful cut past Hiruko's vertebrae as they flew. When Sasori withdrew the tail for inspection, he saw that they had left scratches on the metal.

Four days of travel confirmed what he had always suspected: Earth Country was insipid, uninspiring, and wretchedly inert.

Sasori came from a land that assaulted the senses with constant motion. Wind beat on vast, shifting seas, and each grain of sand glittered a different hue under the varying light – ash-grey at dawn, gold-white by noontime, haughty blue-black at nightfall. These sights had an illusory permanence, even as everything continually changed. In one of the longest battles of the Third Shinobi World War, Sasori had shed so much blood that the dunes turned red with it. By the third day after the battle, the desert had cleaned all traces of the fight. A thousand broken bodies had disappeared under a layer of white-hot sand only slightly redder than before.

He despised the country of Iwagakure more and more as he compared it to the memory of his own. Iwa itself reeked of functionality without grace. It had all the appearance of a crude set of tools produced by the earliest living man. Occasionally, one's gaze encountered an intriguing use of negative space between the facades of two stone towers, but these happened more or less by accidents of nature.

As Sasori watched, a cloud of brilliant fire bloomed from one side of Iwagakure's fortifications. Heat and light radiated out from the burst. The dry, hot air coursing through the gaps in Hiruko's joints reminded Sasori briefly of Wind Country. Seconds later, the tremor reached the ground at his feet.

He saw it as the smoke column cleared: an enormous winged creature hovering over the hidden village. A giant gull with dun-colored plumage about to terrorize an anthill.

A second explosion, greater than the first, blasted the rest of Iwa's southern façade to dust.

Deidara, was it? Perhaps he would prove tolerable.

* * *

><p>At certain intervals of the day, the hallway that led to the Hokage's office was choked with people hurrying in both directions – aides clutching armfuls of missives to and from Cryptanalysis, a staggering variety of animal summons who popped in and out of existence milliseconds away from creating disastrous traffic pile-ups, and individuals arriving or departing on special appointments. The latter group left the premises stony-faced and grim, returning with forbidden scrolls or highly sensitive materials, though they were just as likely to reappear with takeout containers and caffeinated beverages.<p>

The crack of dawn, however, fell outside of usual office hours. Apart from the most important messages and visitors, the Hokage's office remained closed until seven a.m. Itachi expected no company with the exception of the usual guards on duty and, when he saw who else had arrived, wished futilely that reality had followed expectation.

A sharp, familiar voice hailed him from the other stairway at the end of the hall. "Did you get lost on the way to the Torture and Interrogation chamber?"

Until this encounter en route to the Hokage's office, Itachi had never seen the other shinobi out of ANBU gear. For veterans in the ANBU divisions, though, the masks ultimately concealed very little. This man had far too many tells: an unusually heavy stride, a practice of curling and relaxing the fingers of his left hand… most likely a kenjutsu user who gripped his weapon too tightly, leading to tendonitis. Hayate would have corrected that, had he still been in ANBU when this one entered the ranks.

As one of Itachi's regular escorts to chakra-sealing sessions with Hyuuga and Aburame, the horse-masked ANBU had enjoyed sparking the ground near Itachi's feet with minor bursts of chakra, hoping to see Itachi flinch or skip comically ahead of his escort. Nor had it seemed to bother the man when his chakra actually hit Itachi.

"You're in the wrong f – ing building, Uchiha." The man's low whisper was like a shout in the quiet hallway. "Whoever argued in favor of reinstating you must suffer from delusions."

Rather than react to the taunt, Itachi stared straight ahead as he walked. The two of them drew even at the doors.

"… But maybe it's for the greater good. Without another Uchiha shadowing his every step in Konoha, baby Sasuke might not turn out to be a filthy traitor like the rest of his pathetic clan… or a complete f – up like his older brother. Of course," the ANBU added with a quiet laugh, "he might not turn out to be anything but a forgettable little tragedy floating face down on the Naka Riv –"

A loud bang caused him to snap to attention, pale-faced and wide-eyed. Senju Tsunade had flung open the doors, her unnatural strength causing them to slam against the wall. They swung weakly on the rebound.

"You know what's a tragedy?" she snarled. Itachi and the other shinobi were of average height, but Tsunade's presence made her loom as tall as the Hokage Monument. "The smallest turd that came out of an asshole twenty-five years ago who's standing in front of me _right now_. You're a shinobi?"

The man in question gulped before the onslaught.

"Feels like just yesterday when a young lady asked for advice on how to stop you from wetting the bed at night. Oh, wait! It _was _yesterday." Tsunade drew herself up, voice snapping with ire. "So, is it your self-appointed duty this morning to stare stupidly back at me instead of getting the hell out of the way, or do you have actual business to discuss with the Hokage?"

The man mumbled something about requesting a review of his dossier for promotion. Tsunade's harsh laugh drowned out the halfhearted explanation. "That was rhetorical." Her furious eyes latched onto Itachi. He had sidestepped out of the line of fire the instant she appeared at the door, but there was no avoiding Tsunade's wrath entirely. "When the Hokage has finished with you, Itachi, _keep your appointment at the hospital, _if you please."

She swept out of the office with no danger of physical contact, both males having flattened themselves against the wall.

The Hokage's voice floated through the door. "Enter."

Itachi caught a glimpse of deeply furrowed brows as he dropped to one knee before the large desk. The Hokage's aides were nowhere to be seen.

"Itachi, I'll speak to you in a moment," said the Sandaime. "You –" The other shinobi raised his head. "Out."

The man's expression didn't change, though a flush crept up his neck.

"Before you go," said the Hokage icily – the ANBU spun on his heel so fast that a lesser man would have lost his balance – "I may be getting on in years, but if my mental health is a genuine source of concern for you, I strongly suggest dedicating yourself full-time to making further inquiries… and leaving your current job to one who is less preoccupied."

The man broke. "Hokage-sama, I assure you, I never intended…" He ran out of words before his brain caught up and told him to grovel wordlessly.

There were two camps of thought in the ANBU. The greatest fear of many ANBU members was the impossibility of leaving the ANBU even if they successfully handed in a resignation notice. The other half of the ANBU considered a premature dismissal by the Hokage the worst humiliation they could ever face. It was clear to which group this one belonged.

"Our profession carries a high risk of early death," the Hokage resumed. The shinobi's pleas withered into silence. "It is hardly necessary for you to _deliberately_ tempt fate. Fortunately, this time, Tsunade was present to save you from the consequences of such foolishness."

He gave the man another moment to absorb the significance of those words. For an instant, his gaze slid to Itachi. Only then did Itachi remember to relax his control on his chakra. It had been three years since he'd had chakra to consciously suppress. In the effort to contain his visceral reaction to the shinobi's threat against Sasuke, he had committed the rookie mistake of overcompensating and completely muffling his chakra signature, the meaning of which the Hokage had accurately interpreted.

"You may go. Now. Close the doors behind you… if, that is, Tsunade hasn't broken them," the Sandaime clarified in a mutter, but the shinobi must have been halfway across the village by then.

Light from the floor-length windows bled through part of the paper in the Hokage's hand. Based on the arrangement of the characters, little more than opaque blobs from Itachi's vantage point, it was the final page of a Level 6 classified report.

The Hokage pinched the bridge of his nose, lowering the paper. "Why is it," he said slowly, "that of the four reports submitted on the Iwa Incident, yours alone mentioned insubordination? Specifically, _your _insubordination_?_"

Ah. That was _his _report.

"Because I knew you would summon me for an explanation."

The Sandaime folded his hands on the desk. His fingers were long, the knuckles bony and laced with scar tissue. Liver spots trickled over the backs of his hands. Dark eye bags sagged over gaunt cheeks. The office of Hokage had raked harsh grooves over his leathery face.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was sixty-eight. The average ANBU operative died wearing the mask between the ages of nineteen and twenty-two. By ANBU reckoning, the Sandaime was far past the standard expiration date. The last forty-six years were his on loan only, and at that moment, he looked quite cognizant of that fact.

"What is the explanation, Itachi? Your version echoes most of the details in the others. Your four-man cell, under Inuzuka Hana, had been assigned to investigate rumors that the Tsuchikage had secretly renewed the mercenary contracts between Iwagakure and the Akatsuki since the Third War. As a stalling measure, the squad replaced the original documents with ones that specified a different meeting-ground for the next stage of negotiations with the Akatsuki reps. You fully supported Hana's decision to help Iwa hunter-nin bring down the rogue ninja who had been agitating for the use of powerful clay explosives within the village limits of Iwa, saving the lives of numerous individuals who may have since completed negotiations with the Akatsuki to sabotage the operations of other hidden villages, including Konoha.

"Upon subsequently encountering a principal member of the Akatsuki, the squad acted on its own discretion by manipulating the rogue shinobi from Iwa into assisting in the investigation of the Akatsuki organization." The Hokage's lips thinned. His face had lost its earlier weariness; he spoke in a measured, deliberate way, like a surgeon might wield the fine blade of a scalpel.

"In my experience," he went on, "the degree of uncertainty in the information contained in a report is reflected in the fluctuation of detail. In mission reports written separately by members of a squad, it naturally varies at different sections. Yet all four of these reports contain an even amount of detail throughout, and the fluctuation in detail between reports is virtually the same. Shall I go on?" The Hokage's tone had become decidedly biting now.

Level 6 ANBU reports were written on an individual basis for a reason. Each member of a cell experienced a mission in a slightly different way, even if – through some incredible constellation of events – all of them had remained in each other's company for the entire duration of the assignment. Varying perspectives resulted in different emphases or weight given to each section of the mission narrative. One report might also contradict a corresponding write-up of the same mission on a minor fact; this, counterintuitive though it seemed, gave credence to the parts that did agree.

Obviously, the charge of insubordination did not count as a "minor fact."

Otherwise, the close agreement between the four reports on Iwa implied either collaborative writing or a tacit understanding among the cell members to keep parts of the mission off the official record – or, more precisely, away from the eyes of the only four people in the village permitted to access Level 6 Classified materials: the Hokage and his three most trusted councilors, Mitokado Homura, Utatane Koharu, and Shimura Danzou.

The Hokage thumbed through the sheaf of papers on the desk, letting the corners flutter back down. "I ask this once." Old he might be, but the Sandaime's glare more than equaled Tsunade's in menace. "Is any part of the reports true?"

"All of the content of the reports is true," Itachi said. "The lies are in the omissions…"

* * *

><p>They'd had half a second to enjoy the completion of their mission before the tower next door to the Tsuchikage's exploded into furious activity. And also literally exploded.<p>

As per ANBU protocol, they scattered. Itachi left via the nearest window, springing off from the ledge and running vertically down the rough outer wall. He leapt from the side of the tower to the top of an adjacent spire. Thirty meters away on the leeward side of the damaged tower, he could still feel the heat radiating outward from the site of the detonation. Another explosion tore through the south-facing fortifications connected to the tower. Debris cascaded down the sloping exterior wall. An ashy, sulphuric stench hit his nose; part of Iwa's towers had been constructed from volcanic rock.

They had tripped no alarms – Muta's kikai had deftly handled the chakra-triggered fuinjutsu on the original document – but in hostile territory, one always felt extraordinarily guilty for the slightest disturbance.

A black speck no larger than a fingernail zipped past Itachi's line of sight. Muta's kikai bug alit on Itachi's fingertips. The insect hummed, the vibrations transmitted through its exoskeleton serving as a crude version of one of the ciphers used by Konoha ANBU.

_Rogue Iwa nin – White Eyes north by east – Colony southwest – enemy hunters north by west – _

The insect did not bother giving the location of the squad leader, as Hana had just appeared over his right shoulder. Chakra kept her balanced at a near-impossible angle on the slanted top of the spire, partially screened, like Itachi, by the dust cloud from the blast.

Given the chaos unfolding below, Hana forwent the silent hand signals in favor of simply speaking aloud.

"One of the Tsuchikage's pupil is taking advantage of his master's absence to create disruption. This is all his work."

The Byakugan had the advantage here, but the murky vision of Itachi's Sharingan slowed everything to a crawl: Iwa jounin who had been little more than a blur of red and umber moved through the air as if it had thickened into gel. Their target circled around in a wide arc as if to taunt his pursuers. The rogue shinobi's chakra signature was stamped all over the winged creature on which he had perched, though Tokuma alone out of their four-man cell could say for certain if it had its own chakra circulatory system.

"Any sign of the Iwa ANBU?"

Itachi shook his head. They had previously eluded three ANBU to enter the tower. How had the rest remained virtually undetected by kikai, ninken, Sharingan, _and _Byakugan?

Fresh screams and shouting rose to their ears as a smaller bomb went off in the northeastern octant of the village. Itachi watched as houses collapsed, red-gold tongues of fire flaring among the crumbling basalt.

"That's the residential district, isn't it?" he heard Hana observe tonelessly to the shadow that had flickered into being beside her – fleet-footed Shosa, the fastest of the Haimaru brothers. Normally, he wore a doggy grin that betrayed how little importance he placed on the mission compared to the joy of the chase, but on this occasion, he loped up to his mistress's side without his usual levity.

Hana waved Itachi closer to hear Shosa's report.

"It's as you say. Lots of human dens ahead." Shosa panted to catch his breath.

"Civilians?" Hana asked.

Shosa's tail wagged anxiously, conveying much more than his still-developing grasp of ANBU shorthand could. "Who knows? But if that man goes _bang _a few more times_, _he'll kill or injure hundreds of mothers and their pups. No ninken here to sniff them out from the rubble."

Hana surveyed the wreckage. "Our would-be missing-nin over there probably doesn't consider it much of a loss."

Iwa and Konoha could be said to be on friendly terms in the same way that a spider wasp could be said to be on friendly terms with a spider. The battles of the Kikyou Pass and the Kannabi Bridge during the Third Secret War had cast a long shadow: to this day, asking a Konoha nin if he really came from Iwa was equivalent to calling him a parasitic scum of the earth.

But instead of the shared history between the rival hidden villages, Itachi thought of another street full of fleeing children and mothers torn between saving their homes and confronting the masked ANBU who had descended upon them.

Of heavy wooden beams that sent showers of burning sparks into the air as they split apart from the heat.

Of another night of slaughter, that first rush of wind that his kunai sliced through in a single, smooth motion until his brain caught up, saw the snarl frozen forever on his uncle's face as the man fell to the ground, his blood seeping into the dirt.

Suddenly, Itachi knew what Hana had left unasked.

"I'm with you, captain," he said. Precious fractions of a second had already slipped by. In the distance, clouds of smoke and shattered rock shot up as high as thirty meters into the air, erupting one after another. The ground shuddered belatedly in the aftermath. "Make the call."

* * *

><p>Herding the rogue shinobi out of the residential district proved quite simple; a calculated use of <em>henge <em>and genjutsu, combined with the Iwa ninja who remained ignorant of the Konoha ANBU's presence, successfully shifted pursuit beyond the village walls.

The fleeing Iwa nin didn't act as if escape ranked as a priority. He could have taken advantage of the uneven landscape and jutting rock formations, but he didn't seem concerned at all about losing his pursuers, which spoke volumes about his confidence and intentions. A ninja with forethought would be luring them to a more preferred location, but either way, he seemed to be leading the chase north, moving into territory outside of Konoha intelligence.

Since Hana's team had decided to approach at an angle, they had options that the Iwa hunting party did not.

Hana gave the first orders to Muta_. Start taking some of the Iwa chakra with your kikai insects. They'll need it to mask our chakra signals. _Muta's Insect Jamming Technique had become standard precaution ever since the disastrous second part of their first and, thus far, last mission to Amegakure. _Tokuma, flank left and run interference on the two Iwa cells._ _Once you slow them down, Itachi will hold them in his genjutsu._

Meanwhile, Hana would knock the rogue Iwa nin and his monstrous winged transport out of the sky.

Muta's kikai fanned out until they were a pale grey screen traveling several meters before them. Each kikai insect had taken so little of the hunter-nin chakra that none of the eight Iwa jounin and chuunin involved noticed the slight dip in their reserves; all their attention focused on the blond target who taunted them from above. Muta hung back, keeping the pursuit in view but avoiding detection.

Tokuma and Itachi drew even with the Iwa nin at roughly the same time. The kikai screen coalesced into a denser cloud around the Hyuuga. The misdirection lasted for as long as Tokuma required to land an immobilizing blow on the shinobi closest to him and kick the next-closest into a jounin.

About that time, the other Iwa cell began to take notice.

Iwa ninja used a different signaling system, but the cells broke formation and reformed so seamlessly that some communication must have transpired. They were preparing to confront the attackers.

Too late.

Itachi had joined the Iwa nin as soon as Tokuma had taken out the jounin leader of the slower cell. The jounin who had met Itachi's eyes when he deliberately crashed into his side now turned on his own comrades. The neatly reorganized cells fell apart under the unexpected betrayal.

This time, the frantic signals were easy to interpret: _Sensei, what are you doing?_

_Shit! Team leader's been compromised!_

_Genjutsu?_

At least the chuunin caught on fast.

Itachi dispelled both genjutsu – the one on the Iwa jounin and the basic _henge_ that disguised Itachi as one of their own. The Iwa nin recoiled as the jounin dropped where he stood, rendered unconscious at the severing of Itachi's control.

Itachi raised his hand almost lazily so that their shuriken glanced off the kunai in his hand. Exploding tags had never been very aerodynamic; they created excessive drag on the projectiles that Itachi knocked aside before they could detonate. Had Hana asked it of either of them, Itachi or Tokuma alone could have taken out these Iwa nin before they finished blinking.

For their benefit, however, he revealed himself in a large black cloak embroidered with red clouds lined in white. The Iwa nin stopped dead before the sight of a tall, cruelly smiling man whose odd, blue-tinted appearance alone would have stopped them in their tracks, never mind the enormous sword leaned against his shoulder or the shark-like teeth bared in a grin.

"Who the _f – _are you?" shouted one of the chuunin.

"Calm down," ordered a young kunoichi. She hadn't taken her eyes off Itachi, which was a normally good but, in this case, utterly misguided precaution to take.

"But didn't you see – Kurotsuchi, he took out –"

"_Quiet._"

The kunoichi glared up at Itachi's rendition of the missing-nin of Kirigakure called Kisame, whose name he had learned since encountering the man in River Country.

"Akatsuki," spat Kurotsuchi. Evidently, she had recognized the cloak. "You dare turn on Iwa, after Tsuchikage-sama gave you information on the jinchuuriki?" Kunai bristled between her fingers.

"Do you intend to attack me on behalf of your village, foolish little girl?" Itachi-as-Kisame smiled broadly at her uncertainty. Regarding her from behind the illusion, Itachi felt a sad resignation. He would have preferred opponents to know when they were outclassed. "Where are all the ANBU? The famed hunters of Iwagakure? You would need at least a battalion to come within arm's length of me."

Kurotsuchi's eyes narrowed to slits. But while she managed to hold her tongue, her fellow chuunin looked deeply disturbed.

"F – ing _Han – _it's all his fault –"

"Shut up," ordered the kunoichi. Her voice shook slightly.

"Screw you!" yelled the Iwa nin who had first spoken. "If it hadn't been for that damned jinchuuriki, we wouldn't be stuck dealing with this shit by ourselves."

"He's right," burst out another. "We're just chuunin! This is way out of our league."

Watching them argue it out in front of him, Itachi had to agree.

Not surprisingly, it sounded as though Iwa's forces had a contentious relationship with its own jinchuuriki; some rumors had even placed two Tailed Beasts within Earth Country borders. So Iwa ANBU had been largely tied up in a matter related to Han, as the chuunin had referred to the _bijuu_ vessel. Had Han instigated the event on his own, or had that also resulted from Akatsuki meddling? After all, they had a confirmed interest in jinchuuriki.

A massive explosion went off behind Itachi. He took advantage of the distraction to plausibly allow the young chuunin to escape, while assessing the situation.

Tokuma had gone ahead to join Hana. Blackened clay shards continued to fall from the sky, hardened by the heat of the blast. The monstrous bird was no more.

A scything whirl of tooth and claw broke apart in midair – Hana and the Haimaru brothers separating at the end of the Spinning Fang technique, closing in on a flash of blond and dark blue.

The rogue ninja formed a seal with his hands. The clay fragments around him burst apart. Each of them did as much damage as an exploding tag; detonated together, they became painful, even blinding. The kikai bugs that had come too close in the aftermath of the explosion died before they hit the ground.

"What do you want with Deidara?" demanded a voice behind Itachi. "Don't bother trying to turn around – I've sealed you in."

Itachi had no intention of doing so. "Quicklime, is it?" That had been a combination of fire, earth, and water-based ninjutsu. "Impressive." He recognized talent when he saw it. The wisest course of action would be to kill the kunoichi before she turned up on Konoha's doorstep one day at the head of an enemy invasion.

Kurotsuchi scoffed. "I don't need your approval!" she snarled. "Just answer the question!"

"Where have your teammates gone? Surely your show of backbone must have shamed them into staying around."

"They're not my regular team. Anyway, you have other concerns right now!"

"I hope you don't flatter yourself into thinking you're one of them." Although she had quite helpfully divulged new pieces of information.

He dispelled the water clone, leaving the chuunin staring in shock at the hardening remnants of her trap. Kurotsuchi face-planted in the dirt a second later, knocked out cold by a blow to the head.

Still thirty meters from the ground, Tokuma was having trouble with the explosives that the rogue ninja, Deidara, flung in his direction even as he tackled Hana and her three snarling ninken. On previous occasions, Itachi had seen a Hyuuga protect himself effectively with the _Kaiten_, but that was a technique forbidden to Branch House members. The explosives that Deidara had begun to throw detonated on physical contact. As they grew in size and blast radius, Tokuma either avoided them by a hair's-breadth or executed a Body Replacement, which moved him farther away from Deidara.

A clay creature the size of one of Hana's ninken pelted for Tokuma, blazing past the flying formation of Muta's kikai insects without slowing down. The Hyuuga had no way to avoid it without giving up on reaching Deidara entirely.

Itachi leapt into the air. He seized Tokuma's forearm when it came within reach and used it to fling the Hyuuga sideways out of the trajectory of Deidara's short-range bomb. Just as he might alter the direction of a kunai by striking it with another, Itachi used the reaction force from Tokuma to push himself away from the bomb.

The Iwa nin glanced down at them and formed the detonation-seal. Hardened clay fragments ricocheted outward from the blast, rebounding off Itachi's arm guards. His ears rang slightly from the roar of the explosion.

In the short lull, an unfamiliar male voice could be heard:

"Your damn mutts are getting _annoying_!"

That jaunty tone of voice didn't entirely hide Deidara's growing worry. He had reason to feel concerned: Tokuma had regrouped, moving swiftly on the ground to intercept Deidara. Muta's kikai insects swarmed around one of Deidara's hands, while one of Hana's ninken – Chusa, the heavier-set Haimaru brothers – had clamped his jaws around Deidara's other wrist and hung there like dead weight.

Hana slashed through the strap of a pouch that hung at Deidara's hip. Freed, the parcel hurtled to the earth faster than its owner, whose clothing provided air resistance to slow his fall.

Some long-range fighters turned out to be decent close-quarter combatants, but merely _decent_ did not hold up against Hana, who favored mid- to close-range combat, let alone a combination of her _and_ an ANBU-level Hyuuga.

Deidara snarled as the next slash of the kunai tore through the inner tendon of his left elbow. Hana drop-kicked him down the last five meters to Tokuma, whose open-palmed hit landed on the Iwa nin's ribcage with deceptive gentleness. Itachi knew from the odd spar with a Hyuuga, back in his first genin days, that the force of a _jyuuken _blow felt closer to slamming into a spear of quartz than the light tap on the side that it appeared.

Gasping, the Iwa nin twisted around to avoid Tokuma's other hand. He used the momentum to drive a kunai into the ninken gripping his wrist. The kunai tip raked along Chusa's side just before the dog managed to de-summon himself in a puff of smoke.

Freed from the ninken's grip, Deidara disappeared in a Body Replacement jutsu. A huge shadow blocked the dying sunlight. It was so prodigiously large that at first, it appeared as though a cloud had suddenly drifted close.

The new clay creature had a wingspan thirty feet across from tip to tip. Its long, slender neck resembled that of a swan's, except that the bird's head ended in a snake's gaping maw.

Deidara's voice rang out from above. "I don't know who the hell you are, but clearly all of you need to learn how to take a hint, yeah?"

The bird-serpent completely hid him from view, but since he had done the favor of speaking, Itachi concluded from the direction of the voice that the Iwa nin stood close to the shoulder of the creature's right wing.

"Consider yourselves lucky that my art is the last thing you'll ever see," crowed Deidara.

The bird-serpent opened its jaws impossibly wide. A dozen clay swallows burst from its mouth. They tucked in their wings – or rather, the wings withdrew and split up into eight appendages – as they descended. By the time the birds had fallen even six meters, the transformation from swallow to arachnid was complete, and what had begun as a steep dive had become a free fall.

One of the spiders clicked its mandibles in anticipation as it rushed ever closer to Itachi's face.

Itachi smiled slightly as he completed the last seal of the _Goukakyuu_.

The fireball burnt the spider to a crisp and went on to smash into the wing of the bird-serpent directly in its path. A hollow groan issued from the bird-serpent as its pinions crumbled. Dust and chunks of clay showered onto the landscape. Still, the bird-serpent struggled along. It listed to its right side, though it had simultaneously begun to shrink, with some of the clay emerging from its uneven stub to form a temporary wing.

Deidara glared through the hole in his sculpture. "You think you can use a low-level technique like that to bring _me _down to your level_? _Try ag –"

The Iwa nin lapsed into silence, realizing that an enemy shinobi had appeared where he'd had a clear view of the horizon before. Now, possibly for the first time in his life, Deidara was staring down the slowly spinning tomoe of the Sharingan.

Hana brought it to an end by flipping onto the bird-serpent's broad back. One sharp punch to the temple knocked Deidara out cold.

Tokuma met them on the ground. He glanced at the Iwa nin slung over Hana's shoulder. "How did you finally get within arm's length of him?"

Hana dumped Deidara onto the ground. Unconscious, the shinobi who had eluded two Iwa cells and taken the better part of the evening to catch had become little more than dead weight. "Distraction. Itachi apparently invited him to a staring contest."

"Well, who could say no to that pretty face?" Tokuma sneered.

Itachi's eyebrows rose. "I didn't know you felt that way."

The Hyuuga stopped short of making a rude hand gesture. "You only wish, Uchiha."

Muta's arrival put an end to the banter. His insects hovered in a loose formation around him. Itachi had spent enough time with kikai bugs to detect agitation in the higher-pitched humming. "Unidentified shinobi approaching six-hundred meters east of us. He's wearing the Akatsuki uniform - red clouds on black." From that distance, he would have noticed the fight but not the exact number of ninja involved.

"Just the one?" asked Hana, though her ninken had already raced out of sight to conduct recon. Muta nodded, adding that he had done a general sweep within the same radius.

Shosa appeared in a puff of smoke to report. "Doesn't _smell_ human. Oil polish, old blood, and rotting meat, if that."

If any of the Tsuchikage's staff had noticed a non-human anomaly, it should have made it onto record.

"My kikai bugs concur," said Muta after consulting the insects. The kikai bugs were impervious to genjutsu, so their word was usually the last on the matter. "Wood and steel construction, organic and synthetic fibers, hair from multiple humans."

Taken together, the two reports from their non-human companions only confused the picture.

Hana's fingers blurred as they formed the hand seals for a wind-based ninjutsu. The damaged bird-serpent had been freefalling from the darkening sky; thanks to the chakra-guided air current that Hana sent its way, it collapsed several meters to the right of the ANBU team and the unconscious Deidara instead of forcing them all to move aside. The landing kicked up a cloud of clay dust.

A thin rind of red sun lingered on the horizon. In a few minutes, it would be nightfall. The early moonrise cast a milky pall on the surroundings.

"What is the Akatsuki even doing near the village?" asked Tokuma. "They're not meeting the Iwa elders until next month."

"Maybe they think a jinchuuriki lives in Iwa," Muta suggested, although he sounded skeptical.

Hana shook her head. "We would have heard or discovered something to that effect by now, if that were the case. But perhaps the Akatsuki believe otherwise."

The Akatsuki were hunting down the vessels of the Tailed Beasts; that much had been confirmed in the last two or three missions. Itachi had even begun to think that Konoha's next step should be to reach out to the jinchuuriki instead of attempting to chase after the Akatsuki directly: Wait near the jinchuuriki, and the Akatsuki came to you. But based on what the Iwa chuunin had obligingly shared with Itachi, the Iwa ANBU were so distant from the village that they could not respond to Deidara's antics in a timely fashion, and most of them had been tied down by trouble with the jinchuuriki. Therefore, the jinchuuriki must also be a fair distance from the village. Any competent organization seeking the jinchuuriki should have already discovered he was not in Iwa and set off in the right direction.

"It's possible that the explosions caught his attention," said Itachi dryly.

A pause ensued.

"No, too obvious," said Tokuma.

"Of course."

"It doesn't explain why he's in the area to begin with. My point still stands."

"So, we can debate until he enters kunai-throwing distance," said Hana slowly as she tightened the ties of her mask, "or we can go and _find out_ what our visitor from the Akatsuki wants."

And that was why Hana was captain. Itachi suppressed a smirk and listened as she directed the squad on how they would approach the stranger. In short order, Hana laid out what she expected of Tokuma and Muta based on their assigned roles, though allowing for plenty of initiative. It contrasted sharply from a past when she had either depended too heavily on one member of the squad or over-explained their tasks.

Hana had changed, but so had all of them. Once, Itachi had tried to take up all the responsibilities of his old ANBU rank before, but by their fourth mission together, he had learned to rely more on the Inuzuka's judgment. He found that he didn't miss the pressure of captaincy or the necessity of directing others.

One of the beneficial effects of not being captain, and being led by a captain who respected the lieutenant's advice, was the chance to step back from overt command. It had certainly led to more amiable relations with the other members of the squad. Tokuma was the only one of the three who continued to call Itachi "Uchiha"; even then, it was as if he needed to remind himself that Itachi happened to be persona non grata.

However, Hana had other ideas.

"Itachi, you're taking point on this."

He looked up.

"The Akatsuki know that one of the Uchiha is on Konoha's ANBU rosters," continued Hana at the same pitch. She wasn't shouting, but with the Hyuuga's ability to read micro-expressions – even minute eye movements – and the kikai bugs' sensitivity to vibrations, lowering her voice would have been a futile effort. "It doesn't seem as though he's one of the Akatsuki members whom we've already encountered, so he shouldn't hold any personal grudges against you. He might just be … curious as to why anyone of your family continues to serve the village at all."

Itachi flipped a kunai into his hand. The sharp, blackened steel glinted in the ashen moonlight. The silhouette of Iwagakure glowed reddish-orange in the distance, a village still reeling from the damage done by Deidara's bombs. His eyes moved on to the silhouettes of his teammates, Tokuma and Muta. Both men returned the stare from behind their masks. "Curious enough to share more about _his_ purpose."

"That's the hope." Hana glanced at the two other members of the squad as well. "As far as the Akatsuki know, Uchiha Itachi has been biding his time in the ANBU." Her gaze returned to Itachi. "Whatever the rest of us say or do to that shinobi, you need to gain his confidence. Convince him, if only for a few minutes, that you've been reconsidering your allegiance."

A flick of Itachi's fingers sent the kunai flying at Tokuma's temple. It thudded home in a wet spray of blood, brain, and shattered porcelain. The Hyuuga's corpse toppled to its knees and lay still.

Muta's kikai bugs surged forward, frenetic with rage. Itachi cleared them out with three fireballs in quick succession. His lips chapped in the dry heat, but that was nothing to the half-colony of insects that the flames had destroyed. Charred carapaces littered the rocky ground. Momentarily blinded by the fire, Muta didn't see the second kunai leave Itachi's hand and bury itself in the hollow of his throat.

Itachi met Hana's wide-eyed shock with a small, cold smile that she could not see. "Convincing?" The Inuzuka could smell the singed hair and coppery blood for herself.

"Very," said Hana in a low voice.

"It should be. It's real." Itachi watched realization dawn on her face, and then took a long, measured breath, braced for the inevitable agony in his left eye socket, and threw Hana deep into the Tsukiyomi.

* * *

><p>Sasori watched with a mixture of amusement and irritation as one of the ANBU made short work of the rest of his squad. Amusement, because he'd encountered his share of Iwa ANBU over the years (though not even that could liven up a long journey through Earth Country). One of the Tsuchikage's favorite ploys was to dispose of particularly troublesome individuals outside of the village and blame it on the Akatsuki. He suspected that the sole surviving ANBU had just carried out a similar mission.<p>

Sasori's annoyance stemmed from the fact that Deidara had probably fallen under that category. This ANBU did not seem the kind to favor explosives, and the artistry was lacking – though what could Sasori have expected?

The ANBU's last target dropped limply to the ground before Sasori spoke.

"Efficient," he pronounced. "But no finesse."

The masked shinobi tilted his head, as if _he_ had the luxury of taking Sasori's measure. "What is it to the Akatsuki?" He had a smooth, quiet voice. He stood there calmly, without any tension in his posture.

"With your Tsuchikage's propensity to blame the Akatsuki for his assassinations, your lack of style reflects badly on us."

"I don't serve the Tsuchikage." The ANBU pulled out one of the ties behind his head and took off the mask, revealing a face of startling symmetry and familiarity. Sasori had seen ninja with those canted eyebrows, the deep tear troughs, the same cheekbones in Orochimaru's experimental ward. Most of all, he recognized the crimson irises and the three tomoe within them – the bloodline limit of the disgraced Uchiha that his partner so coveted. All five of the great Shinobi Countries knew what had befallen that clan. The leaf insignia on his forehead protector was unmarred.

Sasori studied him and the fallen ANBU, most likely all from Konoha.

"Some of my colleagues did mention that a Sharingan-user had run into them in Ame as well as River Country." Sasori removed the wide hat that sat low over Hiruko's brow. It would only get in the way if Sasori wanted Hiruko to fire senbon. "What business does Konoha have here?"

"For some time now, Konoha has considered Akatsuki business its business."

"Unfortunate," said Sasori. Hiruko's retracted tail loosened from under the folds of the long cloak. "For you."

Sasori had meant to pierce through the shinobi's hand with the sharp tip of Hiruko's tail. The iron vertebrae rattled feebly, as if the screws had suddenly come loose. Metal screeched and ground splinters out of the wooden attachments with a sickening noise. Sasori stopped before chips began to fly out of the joints.

"One of my squad members may have disabled the mechanisms of your… armor. Please excuse the inconvenience." The Uchiha spoke evenly, but he did not bother hiding the malice in his red eyes. "You seem angry."

"Do I?" said Sasori. He was seething.

"It wasn't my intention to upset you," the Uchiha continued, stepping over the body of one of his former companions. "In fact, I was hoping for the opportunity to contact your organization." He spirited a kunai out of his holster. "I would like to join the Akatsuki."

"We already have a shinobi from Konoha," sneered Sasori. "One of the famed Sannin. Or are you unaware that he keeps the eyes, blood, and flesh of your clan members in little vats so that he can dissect them and absorb their talents?"

The other shinobi didn't bat an eyelid. "If the Akatsuki is content with his performance, that is, of course, your prerogative."

The little taunt gave Sasori pause. "You led the squad that broke into Ame."

Again, the Uchiha said nothing to contradict Sasori's conclusion.

"We are uninterested in your offer." Sasori unlocked the gears in Hiruko's jaw, which turned with reassuring smoothness. So the sabotage hadn't reached the more complex mechanisms inside the puppet.

"Members of your organization generally work in pairs," said the Uchiha. "Where has yours gone?"

He grunted abruptly. Fifty senbon had sprouted from his neck like a grotesque collar.

Sasori watched in satisfaction as the Uchiha began to foam at the mouth from the poison. Blood dribbled from the corners of his mouth. Already, the shinobi's arms were stiffening. Normally, affairs like these bored Sasori, but the Uchiha had struck a nerve. Thanks to him, Sasori needed to carve out more time to repair the iron tail instead of working on the new additions he had planned.

"A prosaic explosives expert from Iwagakure would have a higher chance of acceptance into the Akatsuki than the likes of you. There is no country in the world that will take in an Uchiha."

"Not even an Uchiha with the Mangekyou Sharingan?"

Dark flames bloomed from the hat in Hiruko's fingers. Sasori cast it away just before the fire spread to the rest of the puppet. He hadn't felt such a suffocating heat since modifying his body into puppet form, nor seen a fire that literally burned black. A few meters away, the bare rock continued to blaze long after the hat had turned to ash.

"Interesting," said Sasori, somewhat more truthfully. He noticed that a drop of blood had beaded in the corner of the Uchiha's right eye. "How long will that fire last?"

"Does it matter?" The Uchiha appeared bored. "If you are unwilling to give more information on the Akatsuki, then I have no further use for you."

Sasori's eyes narrowed at the breathtaking arrogance. "All of the members of the Akatsuki joined on invitation."

The Uchiha tossed something clad in dark cloth and of relative heft at Sasori's feet. Sasori didn't flinch, but glanced in distaste at the youthful face partially obscured by strands of loose blond hair.

"Is this what the Akatsuki invited?" The Uchiha asked.

Sasori turned the body over with a light kick. "I have no use for corpses." Not at this time, in any case. Organic materials rotted too quickly, requiring special treatment before usage.

He compared Deidara to the Uchiha. Both were young – the ANBU sounded much younger than Sasori's actual years, but close to the Iwa nin in age. Yet the Uchiha had an air of contained assurance that the Iwa nin, an explosives expert, certainly did not possess. He promised to be an intriguing sparring partner, though Sasori deferred that to a later occasion; who knew how troublesome the Five Tails might prove.

"Why seek the Akatsuki?"

"To test my strength." The Uchiha stalked closer, cat-footed, until he and Hiruko, Sasori's outer puppet, stood eye to eye. "The rest of the shinobi world is stagnant and weak, Konoha most of all. You, on the other hand, are rounding up the jinchuuriki. Whatever end that may serve, it suits me better than continuing service to a senile old man who dotes upon the vessel of the Nine Tails."

Sasori laughed quietly. "And you intend to be the one to capture that particular vessel?"

"When the time comes."

"You don't expect to wander freely back to your village and acquire it, do you?"

"Why not?" The Uchiha tilted his head, an inscrutable expression on his features. "I have the Hokage's trust, even if the village elders harbor misgivings. I could even tell them exactly what I am telling you – that I will become a double agent, spying on your organization for them while I am doing the reverse."

"And who's to say that you aren't telling the Hokage the truth?"

The kunai appeared between the Uchiha's fingers between one breath and the next. "Are you ignorant as to what has happened to my clan? I am despised, reviled… condemned for actions that coincided with the official policy. Any shinobi who sincerely devotes himself to such a village is a fool."

Well, Kisame would need a new partner, now that Hidan worked with Kakuzu. And if the Leader disagreed, the Uchiha could subsequently be disposed of, the ability to cast eternally burning black fire notwithstanding. Though improbable, Hidan or Kisame might have hard feelings about the Ame incident, but things like that were usually settled quickly: one of them would attempt to kill the Uchiha. If he failed, hands would be dusted off and shoulders shrugged; _better luck next time_.

"If you are so eager to test your strength against the jinchuuriki," said Sasori, "you can take the place of this useless Iwa nin for the time being and serve as my auxiliary to bring in the Five Tails, although I should hardly require your contribution."

"Certainly," came the reply; the tone implied both polite acceptance of the invitation and a mocking jab at Sasori's battlefield prowess.

The Uchiha had brought up a detail about the fall of his clan that led Sasori down a new train of thought. "You were the clan heir?"

"Itachi," said the ANBU, by way of belated introduction.

"Sasori."

"Sasori of the Red Sand," Itachi recalled aloud. "An S-class criminal and missing-nin, formerly of Suna." A faint respect underlay his words. Good; Sasori could wait to kill him for his earlier impertinence.

"And you would be the only shinobi in the Bingo Book without the status of missing-nin."

Itachi drew a ghost line across the leaf on his forehead protector with the tip of the kunai. It didn't leave a scratch.

Sasori recognized the gesture. He had done it repeatedly, in the days leading up to his defection from Suna. All ninja who became missing-nin experienced that hesitation, toying with the insignia that had defined their entire lives until that moment. Some hesitated out of fear of the unknown that would follow; others, to prolong the pleasure of discarding worthless loyalties.

"Not for long," said Itachi, putting away the kunai.

* * *

><p>They stood under a watchful moon that stained the sky a dark, carmine shade. In that surreal landscape, all other colors faded to ghostly hues. Hana looked wan and unsettled in the unnatural light. She took a deep breath and faced Itachi.<p>

"What's the meaning of this?"

He stepped away, walking around her. For now, Hana's expectations defined the illusory world around them, and so Iwagakure could be seen from afar, albeit in nightmarish hues. The famous mountain range of Earth Country curled over the horizon.

"The Akatsuki shinobi was too near for me to explain. Here, I have all the time I need." Itachi watched as his captain turned over a shuriken in her hands. Despite its disconcerting appearance, the Tsukiyomi had as much realism as Itachi permitted it; Hana would feel, smell, and taste all that she expected to, until Itachi changed the parameters of the illusion.

Hana looked up. "Tell me, then."

"You had the idea of bringing the man to Konoha for questioning. In the long run, it would be more useful to have someone inside the organization sending intel back to the village. You ordered me to convince him that I sincerely intended betrayal, and I have done that. Tokuma has been under genjutsu ever since the last time he looked me in the eye. He is merely unconscious, while the rest of you saw him die of a kunai by my hand. Muta wouldn't have fallen for the genjutsu, thanks to his kikai bugs. I had to use ninjutsu to incapacitate his insects before putting him under." Hundreds of the kikai bugs had genuinely perished, but their individual lives were held cheaply compared to that of the hive queen, who could replenish their numbers in a short period.

"A double-genjutsu, one of similar kind on both Tokuma and Muta… another for myself and the Akatsuki?"

Itachi nodded. "You needed to react in a plausible manner."

Hana took care not to tread on Tokuma's body as she paced – or thought she did. She had expected a corpse; thus, a corpse of the Hyuuga had appeared inside the illusion. "And you'll be a double agent?"

"Who else could do it?" Itachi asked flatly.

"Who, indeed, after the show you put on?" Hana retorted. "But given the kind of security measures that we found in Ame, don't expect to be able to send messages using animal summons. Everything you say aloud must be assumed to be overheard. You still need to send messages with your ninneko, but for the actual news ...I have a better idea. We'll use shadow clones."

Itachi understood at once. Once dismissed, a shadow clone's memory merged with that of the jutsu user. If the shinobi in question created a shadow clone and dismissed it, his shadow clone elsewhere would experience the temporary reduction in his chakra reserves but also share the new memories from the other shadow clone. Likewise, if that second shadow clone created another clone and dismissed itself, those memories would reach the user. Unlike the case of ordinary, illusory clones, there was no known limit to the distance of separation between a shadow clone and its original, the user of the technique.

"I see."

"Then there's the issue of whether or not you can handle it for an extended time." Hana crossed her arms. "I asked Tsunade about your condition from the last checkup." It was the captain's prerogative – no such thing as patient confidentiality existed in the Konoha ANBU. "According to her, you have the chakra reserves of an average genin. You use your chakra very efficiently, but can you maintain a shadow clone while executing the occasional…" She gestured at his eyes. "… forbidden Sharingan technique? Perhaps the Akatsuki will ask you for demonstrations. After all, you don't get into the ANBU either without a screening and probationary period."

Itachi found it unlikely that he would use the Tsukiyomi or the Amaterasu continuously. "It will be fine."

Hana rolled her eyes. "Right. At any rate, arrangements must be made. Chakra transmission hasn't been fully tested with ninken, as they're incapable of making shadow clones on their own. Maybe Tsunade will have some insight in that area…"

It was a quality unique to the Tsukiyomi and many higher level genjutsu that the people subjected to the techniques became more open to expressing their immediate reactions. The normally taciturn Inuzuka was thinking aloud. Itachi permitted himself a slight smile.

"My shadow clone will rejoin the squad once the area is secure. The Iwa nin's still alive if you want him for questioning."

Deidara was unlikely to know much about Akatsuki machinations, but he had been the Tsuchikage's protégé. Itachi counted on Sasori's selective attention to detail. The man was notorious for the poisons that coated his weapons; most of his opponents ended up like the young Iwa nin presently sprawled insensate on the ground, except that they inevitably died in excruciating, poison-induced paralysis within two to three days. He wouldn't examine Deidara's vital signs too closely.

"Considerate of you." They both knew that Itachi had killed the last Iwa nin they'd caught for interrogation. Hana turned on her heel to face him. "You know, it _would_ be a pleasant change for you to just do as you're told for once." Though her tone remained light, Itachi felt the sting in the remark. Hana had respected his position as acting lieutenant, far beyond what he could expect or deserve, but even she wasn't beyond resentment. He had the sinking feeling that pursuing this subject would lead to a discussion for which neither of them was prepared just yet.

"If you prefer to follow the original plan to capture the Akatsuki, I can revive Tokuma and apologize to Muta, and we'll see it done. You are the captain. Call me insubordinate, but the choice is yours." Until he had to concede it, Itachi didn't know how much giving up the choice had bothered him. He was neither on a solo mission nor the leader of the squad. That said, all he could do now was wait.

Hana snorted. "Uchiha Itachi, insubordinate? The village elders would die of shock. So, what can you do to people whom you've trapped here? Anything you want?" She spread her arms, glancing briefly at the red sky as she took a step back. "What did you do to that Akatsuki shinobi when we were on the River assignment?"

The answer was obvious to both of them. Torture was a fact of Konoha's policy and presumably the policy of all the hidden villages. The former interrogatees of Konoha's own Torture and Interrogation commander regressed to a childlike, hysterical state whenever Morino Ibiki so much as strode past the peephole of their prison cells. All ANBU operatives received training in psychological warfare, learning the basic principles around which to improvise interrogation techniques. Candidates for the ANBU corps proved their ability to prioritize the mission at all costs by passing a simulated, seventy-two hour interrogation session without divulging the meaningless, coded message they had been fed beforehand. Candidates for full captain rank in the ANBU also passed an interrogation session, but as the interrogator. Prior to the Kyuubi's attack on Konoha, that had involved torturing a foreign ninja to death. By Itachi's day, it amounted to torturing an unfamiliar ANBU candidate to the breaking point.

None of the four ninja for whom Itachi ran the interrogation passed the ANBU examinations.

Had he been kind to keep them out of the black ops? Or had he reveled in that sick power over life and death that only existed in the candidate's mind? That part of the captain's trial had come so naturally to him.

He'd known an overwhelming relief when the pale-haired shinobi of the Akatsuki, Hidan, had thrown his head back and laughed through the pain. Accompanying the relief had been an icy, impersonal resolve to break that shinobi for Konoha, for the sake of the mission… somehow these goals had narrowed to the impossible attempt to torture a masochistic madman into submission.

He didn't want to revisit it for Hana, and the lull had already stretched far too long. Hana had lowered her arms. She observed him uneasily.

"I don't understand what it is that you want to hear," Itachi said at last.

"I want to know that I don't make decisions on your sufferance." The words sounded forced from Hana's throat. "I may only be an acting captain, and you may have held the full rank – you may even deserve to have it right now, if not for politics –"

"I'm not proud of it," Itachi snapped, even more irked when Hana stared, breaking off mid-sentence. Plenty of people made the mistake of thinking he didn't have a temper because he rarely showed it, but he'd actually hoped that Hana would not be one of them. "I didn't want it; I worked for it because it seemed necessary at the time. I told you as much. If by my 'sufferance' you mean that you need to be able to coerce me into obeying your orders in order to feel secure about your leadership, then you don't understand the concept of respect – or the respect that I, Tokuma, or Muta hold for you. It has nothing to do with full, acting, or former captaincy. If someday, you apply for full rank, I sincerely hope you fail. No decent person has ever survived as an ANBU captain."

The tense silence lasted until Hana sighed, coming closer. "You'll report on a weekly basis at the bare minimum. This needs to be set up with the Hokage and his councilors when we return." She shook her head slowly. "You don't make life easy for yourself."

"If you were in my place, would you let the opportunity pass by?"

Hana held his gaze for a moment before smirking. "That's precisely why I trust you." The smile faded from her eyes. "Because even if I didn't, Konoha has more leverage on you than anyone else: Uchiha Sasuke."

Itachi was getting rather tired of the way people used his brother's safety to bait him. "You talk about sufferance, but you should look to the elders who run the village before you feel threatened by the little that I do."

Scorn flashed in Hana's eyes. "Oh, I'm idealistic, I know, but I'm not completely naïve."

"I don't trust the Hokage's council," said Itachi bluntly. It occurred to him that he'd spoken more plainly and candidly to Hana in the last ten minutes within this illusory world of the Tsukiyomi than he had to anyone else for the last ten years.

"We can work out the details of the reports later." Hana hadn't missed Itachi's phrasing – _the Hokage's council, _not the Hokage himself. "When you end the genjutsu, I will be out cold."

It would simplify matters. "We could still take him," said Itachi.

"Unless you're reconsidering, don't bother mentioning it again." He noticed a curious thing about the Inuzuka: she spoke lightly when she intended to wound, but hardened her voice when the smile in her eyes revealed the opposite emotion. "When you're ready, Itachi," Hana said, raising her chin.

Itachi prepared to dispel the genjutsu.

"Don't be so hard on the position," added Hana, just before he brought them out of the Tsukiyomi. "Even if you think no decent person has ever survived as an ANBU captain, I know an ANBU captain who survived to become a decent person."

He swallowed. "Thank you," he said, very quietly.

A fleeting grin, just before the world dissolved. "I was talking about Kakashi, by the way."

* * *

><p>Feeling a familiar ache begin to throb behind his forehead, Sarutobi massaged his temple with his fingers. "Which of my councilors do you suspect, Itachi? It may surprise you, but I do trust them and hold them in high regard. I've worked with them for more years than you have been alive. Their highest concern is the safety of this village."<p>

"But under whose leadership?"

Sarutobi sat up, narrowing his eyes at the young shinobi standing before the desk. "You are leveling a very serious and, up to the present, unfounded accusation." Saying that in a polite tone did not make it any less inflammatory.

"I apologize for overstepping, Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi steepled his fingers. "I don't believe you do anything thoughtlessly. Why did you point this out to me?"

"I would like to request that the matter of my shadow clones and undercover work in the Akatsuki remain only between you and my squad."

It seemed that Itachi was going to make a habit of uttering incredible statements in the mildest of voices.

"With your captain's permission, you all turned in standard reports but reserved exactly four copies, the ones that would arrive at my desk, which invited questions. All this, because you believe someone with the clearance to read these reports might not believe that my best interests and the village's best interests are one and the same." Sarutobi's voice grew increasingly acerbic. "You request that this situation of your own making remain between us and that of your other three teammates. Is this an accurate summary?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi stood, letting the folds of the Hokage robes fall around him.

"Ever since I stopped sending an auxiliary ANBU squad on your missions, we both know that you could flee Konoha as a missing-nin if you wanted, seal or no seal." The chakra sigil on Itachi's back, invisible unless activated, worked instantaneously and with excruciating force, but it had an extremely limited range.

Unbeknownst to the Uchiha and the other three ANBU in his semi-regular squad, Sarutobi had seriously considered reassigning them to different groups. Each time he summoned them for debriefing, first as a team and then individually, he had delayed taking that step.

There were reasons why ANBU operatives were not meant to work in the same configuration for too many missions. The bonds of camaraderie that worked so well for chuunin and jounin cells only complicated assignments in the ANBU. What if one day, an ANBU cell needed to deploy against one of their own? In dire situations, a fellow squad member on that mission might be assigned the task of assassinating the suspected ANBU operative, and then another ANBU unit would be brought in to clean up the rest of the squad that had gone on that mission. Danzou's recommended protocol left a bitter taste in one's mouth, but the draconian measure had a cruel logic.

The order would go over especially poorly with the Inuzuka - Hana was much too direct in nature to manipulate people into doing what they needed to accomplish. What she did seemed to come intuitively: somehow, she made the individual members want to perform well together, most of the resentment they could have directed at her had apparently dispersed amongst themselves, and the chief downside to all of this was that the four of them had become exponentially harder to reshuffle into other ANBU teams.

Itachi had put Sarutobi in the position of either trusting him absolutely or putting him to death, but putting him to death would naturally spread the news of what Itachi had done, and on that single point, Sarutobi agreed – it was best to keep the infiltration of the Akatsuki under wraps. If there were traitors or secret dealings between his trusted associates and the Akatsuki organization, their exceptional knowledge would betray them.

"I have only one more question for you at present," Sarutobi said.

The Uchiha waited placidly. But of course he would – if he intended to abandon Konoha, he'd already be long gone.

"Are you the shadow clone or the original?"


End file.
